Recreational and Sports Facilities

Sports facilities and other amenities in all 18 districts comprise 41 gazetted beaches, 37 swimming pools, two outdoor stadia (Hong Kong Stadium and Mong Kok Stadium), 51 natural turf pitches, 20 artificial turf pitches, 229 hard-surface soccer pitches, two hockey pitches, two rugby pitches, 87 sports centres, 312 squash courts, 24 sports grounds, 271 tennis courts, four golf driving ranges, five water sports centres, four holiday camps, 22 major parks and 666 children's playgrounds. These leisure facilities cover a total area of 2 211 hectares.

Parks

The Leisure Services Branch manages about 1 400 parks and gardens of different sizes.

Nan Lian Garden covers an area of 3.5 hectares and is situated in the midst of the urban hustle and bustle. The Garden, designed in the Tang Dynasty style, is a classical circulatory landscape garden based on the blueprint of the Jiangshouju Garden in Shanxi Province. Thousands of trees and shrubs including rare and precious species have been planted. There are rocks, hillocks and water features which blend in harmoniously with timber structures in the Tang architectural style, such as pavilions, verandas and gates. The Garden was opened to the public on November 15, 2006.

The octagonal Pavilion of Absolute Perfection is a landmark of Nan Lian Garden.

Beaches and Swimming Pools

Swimming is one of the most popular summer pastimes in Hong Kong. During 2006, more than 19 million visits were made to the beaches (10.57 million) and public swimming pools (8.76 million) managed by the Department. In promoting water sport safety, the Department continued to co-organise a series of campaigns and activities in collaboration with the Hong Kong Life Saving Society.

Wong Lok-kwan, winner of the secondary section of the Poster Design Competition, stands alongside her winning work. The competition is an activity organised by the LCSD and the Hong Kong Life Saving Society to enhance public awareness on water sport safety.

To keep public swimming pools clean, the Charter on Swimming Pool Cleanliness campaign, targeted at children under 11 and their parents, was launched in the swimming season of 2006. The Charter, with the cartoon piglet McDull as the main character, was designed to publicise the campaign. In 2006, a total of 140 primary schools with about 100 000 participants signed the Charter.

Hosts and guests convey the keep-clean message at the launch ceremony of the Charter on Swimming Pool Cleanliness campaign.

Water Sports Centres and Holiday Camps

The LCSD manages five water sports centres (Chong Hing, Stanley Main Beach, St. Stephen's Beach, Tai Mei Tuk and Wong Shek) and four holiday camps (Lady MacLehose Holiday Village, Sai Kung Outdoor Recreation Centre, Tso Kung Tam Outdoor Recreation Centre and Lei Yue Mun Park and Holiday Village). During the year, 108 000 people participated in water sports programmes held at the water sports centres and 496 000 people enjoyed the facilities at the holiday camps. The Department also provides Evening Camp programmes to allow more people to enjoy camping facilities after office hours. During the year, over 30 000 people took part in these programmes.

The water sports centres managed by the LCSD provide skiers with suitable venues to develop and upgrade their skills.

Hong Kong Stadium

Facilities at Hong Kong Stadium are continually maintained and improved by the Department through a series of work programmes. The pitch is kept in top-notch condition for staging international events, and has received praise from both local and visiting athletes. The Stadium has now made available hiring of the pitch for sports training purposes and has hosted quite a number of spectacular events.

Thirty-seven events were held at the Stadium during the year, attracting an aggregate attendance of 344 000. Major events such as the 90^th Anniversary Grand Parade and Family Day of the Hong Kong Girl Guide Association, the 2006 Carlsberg Cup and the Hong Kong Sevens 2006 were staged successfully at the Stadium.

A keen contest at the Hong Kong Sevens 2006.

Initiatives and Improvements in Venue Management

Work Improvement Teams

By the end of December, 259 Work Improvement Teams had been set up in district leisure venues to implement self-initiated and departmental improvements.

The adjudicating panel of the Work Improvement Team Award Scheme on a site visit to Ma On Shan Swimming Pool to gauge the quality of service and facilities provided by the pool.

In view of their success, the Department will continue to support the Teams at all major leisure venues, including sports centres, swimming pools, beaches, parks and playgrounds.

Conversion of Underutilised Facilities

To meet local needs, two underutilised squash courts were converted into an activity room and more than 230 squash courts were opened up for multipurpose use such as activity rooms and table-tennis rooms.

To facilitate sports organisations to provide training and promotional programmes for the long-term development of specific sports in Hong Kong, the Department plans to convert two underutilised sports venues, the Kowloon Tsai Park Tennis and Squash Courts and the Jockey Club Kwai Shing Public Squash Courts, into dedicated sports training bases for tennis and air gun shooting, respectively. The Department is working on the logistics arrangement of the tenders.

The Department will continue to explore the flexible conversion of underutilised sports facilities for other, more gainful uses to meet local needs.

Free-Use Scheme

The Free-Use Scheme aims to maximise the use of recreational facilities by allowing eligible organisations free access during non-peak hours to the main arena and activity rooms of all sports centres, squash courts, hockey pitches, outdoor bowling greens and obstacle golf courses. Eligible organisations include schools, National Sports Associations (NSAs), district sports associations and subvented non-governmental organisations.

LCSD Leisure Link

A version upgrade of the Leisure Link System was carried out in February 2006. The system efficiency has been improved to meet the increasing public demand of the Leisure Link booking services through Internet, telephone and counter booking channels.

One-Stop Service

A one-stop service has been fully implemented at 150 recreational venues. The service enables the public to book facilities, register and pay for recreational programmes, and to obtain professional advice and assistance on facility usage and sports programming all at one venue.

Facilities for NSAs

The Department provides 37 NSAs with National Squad Training Centres, which can be fully utilised for training athletes. The arrangement encourages the associations to use LCSD facilities and makes available more training opportunities for national squads and athletes.