Ocean Park has got 67,000 square metres of land for its redevelopment and expansion, which it aims will raise the 28-year-old facility into a truly world-class marine theme park.

The park's extension will cover Ocean Park Road and Nam Long Shan.

Among the pieces of land the Executive Council cleared for the park yesterday are more than 20,000 square metres under the possession of Hong Kong School of Motoring in Wong Chuk Hang and the nearby Ocean Park bus terminal. The Hong Kong School of Motoring will be shifted to Ap Lei Chau.

The lease formalities will be completed by February and run for 40 years.

The park has also been granted the use of 40,000 square metres of underground space, where it intends to build a cable car system that would connect it facilities. The cable car system is expected to pass through government land in Nam Long Shan.

The redeveloped Ocean Park would be divided into two major areas - the Waterfront (now the Lowland) and the Summit (the Headland), featuring more than 70 attractions.

The major construction work will be carried out in phases, with the first stage scheduled to be completed by the end of 2008 and stage II, in 2010. The park will remain open during the construction period.

The extension and redevelopment is expected to draw more than 5 million visitors a year by 2010-11, that is, 1 million more than 2004-05. The footfalls could go up to 7 million a year by 2021-22.

The new-look park is expected to bring in HK$40-48 billion in benefits over 40 years. Also, it is expected to create 2,600 jobs directly and 4,000 indirectly by 2008-09.