1 September 2011

 

Dear owners and residents,
 

It has been more than a year since we last wrote to you about the proposed introduction of a strictly controlled taxi service (“taxi proposal”) for Discovery Bay (“DB”). Good progress has been made in the past several months in relation to the taxi proposal and we would like to give you an update, now that many of you have returned to DB after the summer holiday.  We would also like to take this opportunity to thank those residents and non-DB District Councillors who have given their strong support for the taxi proposal.
 

1. Consultation by the Transport Department (“TD”) – TD consulted the Traffic and Transport Committee (“T&TC”) of the Islands District Council (“IDC”) on the taxi proposal on 25 July 2011.  Several non-DB Councillors of the IDC expressed positive support for the taxi proposal, pointing out that the proposal would provide added, and the much-needed, transport convenience to DB residents nowadays. 
 

2. Support by residents and non-DB District Councillors – In November 2010, several DB residents initiated a signature campaign and collected more than 2,000 signatures within two days in support of the taxi proposal.  With this strong support, the residents petitioned non-DB Councillors of the T&TC to reflect the community’s need for the taxi service under various circumstances.  Having understood the needs of DB residents, several non-DB Councillors of the IDC called on the Government to give prompt approval.  It is only with the efforts of all these residents and non-DB Councillors that we could achieve so much progress on the taxi proposal to date.  We sincerely thank them all!
 
3. Liaison Group on taxi proposal – To address the concerns raised by some of the residents, Hong Kong Resort Company Limited has set up a Liaison Group to discuss the details of the taxi proposal. The Liaison Group comprises 8 members of the City Owners’ Committee (“COC”) nominated by the COC Chairman and representatives from various stakeholder groups including schools, non-governmental organisation and commercial tenants in DB.  Members have already agreed on a set of effective control measures to ensure that taxis will only stay within the Authorised Areas in Yi Pak area of DB North. 
 

With the strong support of DB residents and after consulting T&TC, we hope that TD and other Government departments will proceed further with and approve the taxi proposal as soon as possible so that DB residents can benefit from the flexibility of travelling to and from Yi Pak area of DB North by taxis, whenever they like.
 

Thank you for your kind attention. We shall continue to provide you with updates when appropriate.