Recreation and Sports Facilities

General Conditions

All hirers/users must observe the Pleasure Grounds Regulation (Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance, Cap. 132), and comply with any directions given by the staff of the Department.

Before using the facilities, individual hirers must check-in for the use of the facilities with his/her original Hong Kong Identity Card at the SmartPLAY Smart Self-service Station or Self-service Check-in Device. Non-Hong Kong Identity Card holders and hirers who have not had their relevant qualifications / proof of eligibility for concession of their SmartPLAY account information verified are required to present the original copy of the recognised identity document and the recognised qualification / eligibility certificate (if required) at the counter for checking and registration. Individual hirers of the natural or artificial turf soccer pitches and three of the users nominated in the application / Individual hirers of the indoor basketball courts or volleyball courts and one of the users nominated in the application must check-in together for the use of the facilities with his/her original Hong Kong Identity Card or other recognised identity document at the SmartPLAY Smart Self-service Station/Self-service Check-in Device/ service counter/check-in counter. The hirer is required to make a declaration via the SmartPLAY system or fill in the declaration form at the counter when registering for check-in. Organisation hirers (if they have not provided their full identity card numbers in the facility booking application form) are required to present their valid user permit/approval letter and the original identity document provided in the facility booking application form at the service counter for checking and registration. Upon registration, the group hirer is required to confirm the declaration via the SmartPLAY system or fill in the declaration form at the counter. A hirer who breaches the declaration may be prosecuted and held criminally liable. A hirer will be refused the use of the facility if his/her name or identity document number is found to be inconsistent with those provided for making the booking without a reasonable explanation upon identity checking. Generally, the start time allowed to accept hirers for registration to take up the booked session is 15 minutes before the booked session. Registration can be made in one go for all consecutive booked sessions. The venue management can adjust the time for registration according to their operational needs and actual situation (applicable to registration at service counter/check-in counter).

The permit/approval letter is not transferable. If a hirer is found to have engaged in unauthorised transfer of user permit, his/her booking right for use of sports facilities will be suspended for a period of 360 days. The start day of suspension shall be determined by LCSD upon confirmation of the breach by the hirer.

The hirer must be present during the use of the booked session (The hirer of the natural or artificial turf soccer pitch and three out of four users provided in the booking must be present with the hirer during the use of the booked session. The hirer of the indoor basketball court or volleyball court and one of the users nominated in the application must be present during the use of the booked session). Venue staff will conduct inspections to check if the hirer/user is/are present during the use of the booked session. The hirer is required to provide his/her identity document for checking again upon request by the venue management. If the hirer/ user is/ are found not being present during the use of the booked session, it will be treated as one breach for “not being present during the use of the booked session” and will be handled according to the requirements under Condition 13 below.

The recognised identity documents include Hong Kong identity cards (HKID); birth certificate/Document of Identity for Visa Purposes/HKSAR Re-entry Permit/ One-way Permit for children aged below 11 and valid travel document for persons who are not holders of HKID cards. Children aged 14 or below may produce a copy of their identity documents, together with the original of their valid photo-bearing student cards/ student handbooks, for verification. If original copy of the identity document produced does not bear a photograph, the original of a valid photo-bearing student card/ student handbook must also be produced.

The booked facilities will only be used for the designated function of the facilities, unless with prior approval of the management. If any applicant wishes to use the facility for any other activity, the applicant should seek advice and agreement from the venue management before making the booking. The management may not permit such other use on the spot by the hirer if without prior agreement.

All users must wear appropriate attire, footwear, use appropriate equipment, protective gear as necessary and observe all safety rules and conditions for use of the sport/activity.

Eating and drinking shall not be permitted inside the playing areas. Smoking is strictly prohibited in sport venues.

All users must leave the playing area when their booked session/hour is over. All hired/borrowed equipment should be returned at the same time.

10.

Recreation and sports facilities will be closed on the issue of tropical cyclone signal No. 8. Venue staff will resume work as soon as practicable after cancellation of the Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal No. 8 or above. The recreation and sports venues will reopen within 2 hours, if situation allows. The management may also exercise discretion to close the facilities when, in its opinion, that the facilities are unsuitable for use from safety or operation point of view.

11.

If an organisation, having booked a session, fails to take up the booking or fully utilise the facilities without satisfactory explanation and has found to have breached the booking arrangement and the conditions of use, LCSD may issue default notice to the organization and reserves the right to refuse to accept further bookings from this organisation and to cancel all bookings already reserved by the organisation.

12.

A hirer who is unable to take up a booked session should cancel the booked facility as soon as possible. Hirers can cancel the booking through the SmartPLAY system one day before the start of the booked session(s). The hire charges paid for the cancelled bookings or sessions not taken up will not be refunded.

13.

A hirer who fails to take up the booked session(s) and/or not being present during the use of the booked session(s) on two occasions in 60 consecutive days will have his/her booking rights for sports facilities (including advance booking, on-the-spot booking and free use of facilities) suspended for 90 days. The suspension will take effect two days after the second occasion. The number of occasions that a hirer fails to take up booked session(s) or not present during the use of the booked sessions is counted on a day basis. That is, regardless of the number of sessions not taken up or not being present on a particular day, the hirer is regarded as failing to do so once.

14.

Persons who are aged 60 or above, full-time students, or persons with disabilities are eligible for concessionary rates for certain specified periods of time. If a hirer claims / declares that he/she is eligible for concessionary rate and books a facility at a concessionary rate but fails to produce a valid documentary proof to prove that he/she is eligible for concessionary rate, LCSD will not accept top-up payment for the shortfall in fees by the hirer at all times and will refuse his/her use of the booked facility. The hirer may also be deemed to have abused the concessionary and his/her booking right for use of sports facilities will be suspended for a period of 180 days. The start day of suspension shall be determined by LCSD upon confirmation of the breach by the hirer.

15.

Except where the hirer is a person with disabilities, if the hirer (including aged 60 and full-time students) who books a facility at the concessionary rate, all his/her partner(s) should be eligible for concessions. Subject to Condition 16 below, if any partner(s) of the hirers are not eligible for concessionary rate, the hirer is required to top up the shortfall between concessionary rate and normal rate before using the facility. Otherwise, the hirer’s partner(s) is/are not allowed to use the facility. A hirer who is found to have used a facility with any partners not eligible for the concessionary rate may be deemed to have abused the concession and his/her booking right for use of sports facilities will be suspended for a period of 90 days. The relevant ineligible users should immediately stop using the facilities concerned.

16.

Persons with disabilities are eligible to use the booked session(s) at concessionary rates with the company of an accompanying carer with a maximum ratio at 1:1. Accompanying carers of persons with disabilities when using facilities that require payment by individual hirers/users (such as table tennis table) are also eligible for concessionary rate on a ratio at 1:1. The hirers are required to immediately top up the shortfall between the concessionary and normal rates before using the facilities if the ratio of persons with disabilities who use facilities to accompanying carers exceeds 1:1. A hirer who is found to have used a facility with any partners not eligible for the concessionary rate may be deemed to have abused the concession and his/her booking right for use of sports facilities will be suspended for a period of 90 days. The relevant ineligible users should immediately stop using the facilities concerned.

17.

Hirers /users (if their eligibility for concessionary rates has not yet been verified) enjoying concessionary rates are required to produce an original copy of proof of their eligibility, e.g. photograph-bearing student card/handbook, registration card for persons with disabilities, Senior Citizen Card issued by the Social Welfare Department or Identity Card for verification at the service counter/check-in counter before using the facilities or during the booked session(s). They may also be required to produce the above documents for checking by staff during the use of the booked session(s).

18.

No distinction should be made between local and overseas individuals in granting the concessions. Both local and overseas individuals of the specific categories are eligible for the same concession.

19.

Booking made by overseas schools and overseas subvented non-governmental or disabled organisations are not eligible for the concession.

20.

Under normal circumstances, application from a hirer to transfer a confirmed booking to a different time will be deemed to be a cancellation and the fees paid will be forfeited.

21.

If a confirmed booking has to be cancelled by the management owing to inclement weather or any unforeseen circumstances in accordance with Condition 10, the hire charges for the unused session(s) will be refunded to individual hirers. Organisation hirers may apply for reallocation or a refund of the hire charges for the unused session(s). However, the management does not guarantee the availability of any suitable session for reallocation, for reasons including but not limited to scheduled maintenance works, prevailing booking situations of the facility or any other circumstances. In such case, refund of hire charge will be arranged. The hirer shall make the application for refund within 30 days, inclusive of the day of the original booking. No booking shall be allowed for the cancelled session that has been approved for reallocation.

22.

Prior consent should be sought from staff of the respective venue for use of ancillary facility / equipment. Venue staff will make arrangements subject to availability/ conditions of the ancillary facility / equipment. The hirer shall be responsible to meet the cost of repairing any damage caused to the facility, and of repairing or reinstating or replacing any equipment, apparatus, fitting, or other property damaged or destroyed (fair wear and tear excepted), stolen or removed during the use of the facility.

23.

All injuries to participants or any other party, as well as damage to the facility, must be reported to the management immediately.

24.

Except with the written approval of LCSD, the applicants, being either the sole or joint organiser of an event, shall be responsible for all the administrative work of the events including recruitment, enrolment, publicity, fee collection, employment of staff etc., in order to enjoy priority of booking.

25.

The hirer shall indemnify the Government, its employees and agents against all actions, claims, demands and proceedings by any person who suffers or sustains any loss, damage, injury or death arising out of or as a result of the use of facility by the hirer or any person admitted by the hirer to the facility due to any act, omission, default, misconduct or negligence of the hirer or on the part of such person admitted to the facility as aforesaid.

26.

At the discretion of the Department, users can be granted free use of booked facility that is paid for but not taken up by the original hirer 10 minutes after the starting time on condition that there is no other vacant facility available for booking at the same time. The free use shall only be the same use of facility booked by the original hirers. The user(s) who has been granted for such use should surrender the facility back to the original hirer immediately upon the arrival of the original hirer. Person(s) who wish(es) to have free use of such facility should approach the service counter and allocation is made on a first-come-first-served basis. Registration for such use of the temporary vacant facilities will commence after the start of each hour/session. Persons who have not booked or used a session of such facility on that day will be granted a higher priority. Persons whose booking right has been suspended will not be allowed free use of the booked facilities. Venue manager/duty officer in-charge may cancel/suspend such free use arrangement at any time if there is suspected abuse of such free use by any person, including unauthorised transfer/sale of the use, as may be determined by the venue manager/duty officer in-charge on the spot. The arrangement of free use of booked facilities under this condition is not applicable to natural turf and artificial turf pitches, indoor basketball courts and indoor volleyball courts.

27.

If any person fails to comply with the conditions of use or LCSD’s advice to the full satisfaction of the LCSD, the venue management is entitled to cancel any confirmed booking and terminate the use of the facility immediately without compensation. The hirer shall vacate the facility immediately under such circumstances. LCSD may remove any person from the facility/venue if he/she is in breach of the Pleasure Grounds Regulation (Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance, Cap. 132) or other regulations in force. In such event, the booking will be cancelled automatically and the paid fees forfeited.

28.

Not to erect any permanent or temporary structure in the venue except with the prior permission of the Department. The hirer shall employ at his expense an Authorized Person or a Registered Structural Engineer, as appropriate, to provide certification on the design and construction prior to the function of the safety of any or all structures which in the opinion of the Department require such certification. For the purpose of illustration, structures exceeding 1.7 metres high with a volume exceeding 3 cubic meters (3m³) / exceeding 2 metres high that may require such certification include but not limited to stage with backdrop, marquee and tent on or within which public programme or performance will be conducted. For uses involving temporary structure (other than those provided by the venue), public admission and high risk nature, District Leisure Manager/venue manager may require the hirer to take out a suitable insurance coverage to protect the interest of both the hirer and the Government. The prevailing level of insurance amount against the indemnity set by LCSD shall be applied in commensurate with the scale/nature of use/event.

29.

For events involving overseas teams (including those from the Mainland), the applicant should consult the governing sports body, viz. the National Sports Association (NSA) concerned, for advice/agreement on the proposed use according to the practice of international sporting events to ensure that these events comply with the requirements of the governing sports body for the safety of the athletes and spectators.

30.

The event related publicity materials should be in compliance with the laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China (Hong Kong) and should not contain false, biased, misleading or deceptive information and defamatory, indecent, obscene or objectionable elements, or cause public unease. The hirer is required to provide sample of all publicity materials such as banners/buntings, sign boards, backdrops, with details of content and design and wording to the Department for approval before display. The event related publicity materials should not have any implication that the Department is related to the hirer and/or the activities organised by the hirer without prior written permission of the Department. The hirer shall indemnify and keep indemnified the Government, its employees and agents against all claims, demands, actions or proceedings arising from any breach or non-observance of this provision.

31.

The hirer should not arrange any public admission during the use of the booked facility as spectators, without the prior approval of the management.

32.

On the basis of the nature of use/activity, the management may stipulate a maximum user capacity of the booked facility on the ground of public safety and management consideration.

33.

To prevent the spread of communicable disease and to maintain public health, members of the public may be required to undergo temperature/health check and/or registration before entering the venue, and admission may be prohibited if such person refuses to undergo the abovementioned check. The hirer shall also pay attention to participants’ personal health care conditions, and remind those having respiratory symptoms that they should refrain from participating in the function and seek medical advice promptly.

34.

LCSD reserves the right to reject/cancel the booking without giving prior notice to the applicant/hirer and also to restrict the number of users and/or spectators entering the venue or to refuse entry of any person upon health ground or any other reason and/or impose further conditions for use of the recreation and sports facilities.

35.

(a)

The hirer or the user shall comply with, and ensure that each of their Related Person(s) shall comply with, all laws applicable to Hong Kong.

(b)

The hirer or the user and each of their Related Person(s) shall not engage or be involved in any act or activity which:

(i)

contravenes any National Security Laws;

(ii)

constitutes or causes the occurrence of an offence endangering national security;

(iii)

in the reasonable opinion of LCSD, is likely to constitute or cause the occurrence of an offence endangering national security; or

(iv)

in the reasonable opinion of LCSD, is or would be contrary to the interests of national security or the public interest of Hong Kong.

(c)

For the purpose of Clauses 35(b) and 36(b):

(i)

“national security” has the meaning given under the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance (6 of 2024);

(ii)

“National Security Laws” means all laws and legislation relating to safeguarding of national security which are from time to time in force in or applicable to Hong Kong, including the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region as applied in Hong Kong under the Promulgation of National Law 2020 (L.N. 136 of 2020) and the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance;

(iii)

“offence endangering national security” has the meaning given under the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance;

(iv)

“Related Person” of the hirer/user means

(A)

any person who is involved directly or indirectly and in any manner in the hiring or using of the relevant facilities and who is:

(1)

In the case if the hirer/user is a limited company, a shareholder, director, member, employee, agent or contractor of the company;

(2)

in the case if the hirer/user a company limited by guarantee, a member, director, officer, employee, agent or contractor of the company; and

(3)

in all other cases (including that if the hirer/user is an unincorporated entity), a partner, member, officer, employee, agent or contractor of the entity; and

(B)

any person admitted to the venue or facility by the hirer/user;

(v)

for the avoidance of doubt, each of the expressions “engage” and “involve” and its variants includes the act of aiding, abetting, counselling, inciting, promoting and procuring another person to perform or not to perform an act or a matter; and

(vi)

a determination by LCSD as to whether any of the circumstances described in Clauses 35(b)(iii), 35(b)(iv) and 36(b) have arisen shall be final, conclusive and binding on the hirer/user.

36.

Without prejudice to any other rights of LCSD and notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, LCSD reserves the right to cancel any booking and/or terminate the use of the venue or the facility immediately without compensation on any of the following grounds:

(a)

breach of Clause 35 above General Condition; and

(b)

in the reasonable opinion of LCSD, the use of the venue or the facility by the hirer/user and/or its Related Person(s) is or would be contrary to the interests of national security or the public interest of Hong Kong.

37.

The hirer is required to observe and comply with the National Anthem Ordinance (Instrument A405) should the function involve the playing or singing of the national anthem. The hirer is also requested to inform the venue management of any playing or singing of the national anthem in the events in advance.

38.

In accordance with the National Flag and National Emblem Ordinance (Instrument A401) and the Regional Flag and Regional Emblem Ordinance (Instrument A602), the hirer who would like to display, use or raise the national/regional flags and/or national/regional emblems during the hire period shall ensure that their designs are in compliance with the specifications set out in the respective Ordinances and make prior written applications to the Deputy Director of Administration.