Points to Note and Regulations for the Participants

 

1.	To enrol onto the Community Garden Programme (the Programme), applicants must submit ballot e-application forms via My SmartPlay App, the SmartPLAY webpage or smart self-service stations within the specified period in a month before being allowed to enter the ballot for all the activities under the Programme offered by the 18 District and Leisure Services Offices across Hong Kong. Alternatively, applicants may also participate in all the activities under the Programme as a “Subsidiary Member” with another applicant.
2.	After the applicant submits the application form, the SmartPLAY system will check whether the class schedule of the gardening course provided in the Community Garden Programme overlaps with another recreation and sports activity for which payment has been settled or confirmation has been made. If there is an overlap, the application will be rejected by the system. This means that participants who have not yet completed the gardening course will not be able to enrol in other recreation and sports activities that conflict with the course schedule. However, this restriction does not apply to those participating in the Programme as a “Subsidiary Member”.
3.	Places are non-transferable.
4.	Children aged 12 or below will not be allowed to enter community gardens, unless accompanied by an adult.
5.	All planting plots are allocated by ballot. Participants will not be allowed to pick their own plots without prior consent from the LCSD.
6.	Participants may carry out gardening in designated planting plots inside community gardens for about 18 weeks, learning how to grow various ornamental plants, fruits and vegetables.
7.	The general opening hours of community gardens are 8:00 am to 6:00 pm daily. Participants should take note of the opening hours of individual venues.
8.	Each participant may bring no more than four guests (“Subsidiary Members”) to the planting activities under the Programme. Applicants are required to submit the details of Subsidiary Members, if any, alongside their applications when enrolling in the Programme. No alterations can be made to the finalised list of Subsidiary Members. However, their withdrawal from the Programme may be allowed, but without replacement of any vacancies that may arise. Subsidiary Members may accompany participants to community gardens to carry out gardening, but may not take with them any other persons. Subsidiary Members are, like participants, bound by the applicable rules as set out in this “Points to Note and Regulations”.
9.	Gardening classes, consisting of 18 sessions of 3 hours each and involving a total of 54 hours, are conducted on Saturdays or Sundays. Instructors will brief participants on the techniques for growing various plants. Participants are required to personally take care of their plants by, inter alia, sowing, watering, digging, fertilising, weeding and taking pest control measures. Staff of the LCSD may water the crops for those participants who cannot make it to attend the classes if resources permit. Subsidiary Members of a participant are not allowed to attend the gardening classes on behalf of the participant.
10.	Alterations to the schedule of the gardening class will be announced by instructors during sessions. No further notices will be given by the LCSD.
11.	Participants must purchase at their own expense materials such as seeds, seedlings and fertilisers. In addition, they should seek advice from instructors before making the purchases, ensuring that the materials they intend to buy are allowed for use. The LCSD will by no means provide such materials. Participants must therefore prepare them on their own. Participants may take home their harvest. In the event that participants’ plants cause disturbance to others or facilities of the venue, the LCSD’s staff reserve the right to remove such plants.
12.	Participants must not disturb others during gardening activities or harm their plants, nor must they conduct any activities unrelated to gardening in the community gardens.
13.	Participants should be aware of their own and others’ safety, and exercise due care to use horticultural tools when gardening. The LCSD will not be liable for any loss inflicted on the participants or other persons due to their participation in the gardening activities, except those caused by negligence on the part of the LCSD.
14.	Participants must not grow plants that are subject to legal control in Hong Kong. Nor must they use those fertilisers causing offensive odour. Those wishing to use agricultural pesticides should seek prior approval from instructors.
15.	Participants are barred from sowing the seeds of the genetically modified organisms that are not approved under the Genetically Modified Organisms (Control of Release) Ordinance. For details, they may visit the website of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department.
16.	In the event that a planting plot is affected by works in the venue, the LCSD will try all means possible to arrange other planting plots as an alternative for the participants. In case the participants in question do not wish to plant in the alternative plots or arranging such plots becomes infeasible or impossible, the LCSD will notify the participants in writing two weeks in advance of the discontinuation of gardening activities. The fee paid will be refunded on a pro-rata basis based on the number of remaining sessions of the gardening classes, excluding the cost of purchasing gardening materials, such as seeds, seedlings and fertilisers, at participants’ own expense.
17.	In the event of suspension or cancellation of the Programme due to unforeseeable circumstances or emergency, the gardening activities involved will be suspended or cancelled accordingly. The LCSD will notify the participants of the relevant arrangements as soon as practicable. The fee paid shall be refunded on a pro-rata basis based on the number of remaining sessions of the gardening classes, excluding the cost of purchasing gardening materials, such as seeds, seedlings and fertilisers, at participants’ own expense. No claims can be made to the LCSD due to suspension or cancellation of the activities.
18.	Participants should remove their plants and other belongings within a specified time frame upon conclusion or cancellation of the activities. Failure to do so will lead to removal of such plants and belongings by the Department without further notice.
19.	Participants must not take away any soil or crops used for teaching purposes from the planting plots, unless the LCSD allows them to do so.
20.	If participants are allocated with plots inside an venue under the management of the LCSD, they should also comply with the Pleasure Grounds Regulation made under the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance.
21.	Participants must not conduct gambling and illegal or immoral activities in the community gardens. Nor must they smoke, drink, light fires, cook, picnic, as well as sell food, drinks or other goods in the gardens.
22.	Participants must not store dangerous or inflammable materials, post advertisements, erect structures or cause damage to any facilities within the community gardens. They may erect on their planting plots a gardening trellis, subject to the limit of heights specified for individual community gardens.
23.	Participants should keep the community gardens clean and tidy, and put rubbish into the designated litter bins at the end of each activity. Yard waste free from pests and diseases can be disposed of in composting bins or at other designated locations in the venue to facilitate the production of compost for the use of participants.
24.	Participants must not carry out gardening or leave any extraneous stuff outside their planting plots. The LCSD has discretion to remove any plants and objects found outside the plots without giving further notice.
25.	Participants must not conduct any commercial activities in the community gardens.
26.	If a Pre-No.8 Special Announcement (an advance notice issued by the Hong Kong Observatory when Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal No. 8 is expected within two hours) is issued when a gardening course is in progress, the course will continue as usual. If the Announcement is issued before the course commences, the course will be cancelled.
27.	Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal No. 8 or above or the Red/Black Rainstorm Warning Signal is issued two hours prior to the start of a gardening course, the course will be cancelled. If the warning signal is cancelled two hours prior to the start of the course, activities at the community gardens will be held as usual, where the circumstances of the venue permit. If, out of safety or operational concerns, the venue staff considers the community gardens unfit for public access, he/she may cancel the gardening course at discretion. Participants are advised to check with the venue staff or the person in charge to see if the course is suspended, and consider whether to attend the activities in light of the actual weather and traffic conditions.
28.	If Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal No. 8 or above or the Black Rainstorm Warning Signal is issued, the community gardens will be temporarily closed. If, out of safety or operational concerns, the venue staff considers the community gardens unfit for public access, he/she may close the gardens at discretion. In case of inclement weather, participants are advised to check with the venue staff to see if the gardens are open before visit.

 

Points to note and regulations for the participants

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