The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government aims to get the Northern Metropolis Development Bill passed in the legislature this year to streamline planning and land acquisition procedures, expedite construction works and facilitate industries’ operations for the flagship project.

The proposed legislation, published in the government gazette on Friday, will be submitted to the Legislative Council for its first and second readings on July 8.

The bill outlines six specific policy areas to accelerate the development of the Northern Metropolis, which has entered the full-scale construction and enterprise establishment phase. It empowers the Chief Executive-in-Council to enact subsequent subsidiary laws, allowing detailed implementation rules to be formulated.

Once the bill is passed, the government will formally submit the first batch of subsidiary legislation to lawmakers for deliberation.

“The nation’s 15th Five-Year Plan explicitly supports accelerating the Northern Metropolis’ development, fully demonstrating the high importance the country attaches to the Northern Metropolis, as well as its strategic role in integrating Hong Kong into and serving overall national development,” an HKSAR government notification said on Friday.

According to the Development Bureau, the framework gives the government the necessary flexibility to adjust operational details swiftly to meet the project’s evolving development needs.

RELATED ARTICLES

• HK pulls out all the stops to develop Northern Metropolis
• 'Northern Metropolis' to be HK's 'second economic engine'
• HK lawmakers tour Northern Metropolis, hail updates on progress
• Innovative development model emerges for Northern Metropolis

The primary bill establishes the legal foundation for various upcoming legislative proposals, including delineating the official boundaries of the Northern Metropolis, streamlining town planning procedures, and expediting land resumption compensation payments.

It also covers measures to foster innovation and quality in construction works, simplify construction noise permit applications, ease cross-boundary flow of production factors, and establish statutory corporations for designated areas.

The government has submitted the draft for the first batch of subsidiary legislation together with the bill for the legislature’s preliminary review. It emphasized that the draft subsidiary legislation has been submitted for lawmakers' reference only, enabling them to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the details of the measures when scrutinizing the bill.

A public consultation exercise on the Northern Metropolis was conducted from March 24 to May 22, and the government consulted the LegCo Panel on Development on March 24 and June 23. Responding to the public’s response, the government refined the legislative proposals and briefed the panel on June 23.

“There’s general support from the community for introducing dedicated legislation to accelerate the development of the Northern Metropolis,” the government notification adds.