The West Kowloon Cultural District Authority Board has assured the preparation of the West Kowloon Cultural District development plan will be transparent and community support for it sought.

At the board's second meeting today chairman Henry Tang said it was agreed that during the identification of the design and user requirements of the art and cultural facilities in stage one of the project the target of the public engagement exercise should be enlarged to include members from different sectors and the general public, in addition to stakeholders of the arts and culture sector.

He said the cultural district is not composed of disjointed facilities and its planning should be people-oriented, emphasising the overall image and ambience of the whole district.

"The WKCD will develop its uniqueness to give Hong Kong people and visitors from around the world a distinctive experience," he said.

Mr Tang said the authority will allow different sectors and the general public to participate in the discussions on the development proposal at different stages. It will then select one of the three proposals provided by the consultant and refine it in accordance with the public views collected before submitting it to the Town Planning Board.

The authority has begun the preparation of the development plan and the open tender exercise for appointing consultants. Both local and overseas companies can take part in the tender, which is expected to be concluded by the latter part of the first quarter of 2009.

"We understand the Legislative Council and the public expect the authority to operate in a highly transparent manner," Mr Tang said.

"Having considered the existing practices of other statutory bodies, it was agreed that sessions of the board meetings of the authority which do not involve sensitive and commercial information will be open to the public.

"Relevant meeting documents, agendas and minutes of meetings will also be available for public access. We anticipate opening up of board meetings will be implemented in the first quarter of 2009."