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1. Harbour planning 'needs big shake-up'

1. Harbour planning 'needs big shake-up'
ANDY CHENG, SCMP 14 January 2005

A leading business advisory council has floated a concept to develop 1,800 hectares of Victoria Harbour frontage, saying much of it is badly used.

Paul Zimmerman, of the Business Environment Council, told a meeting of the Harbour-Front Enhancement Committee of the idea of "integrated harbour planning" for a "Victoria Harbour District".

The council, a non-profit organisation advising businesses on sustainable development, counts among its members Sun Hung Kai Properties and Sino Land Company, shortlisted bidders for the West Kowloon cultural hub.

Mr Zimmerman said specifying use would ensure land was better used and the proposal was prompted by the lack of land in the city.

"We only know there is a plan for West Kowloon, we know somebody has a plan for a heliport, we know somebody has a plan for a Central reclamation. But what we don't have is a plan for the area as a whole," he said.

"Look at the East Island corridor, it's a badly used coastline ... The ferry terminals from the Central ferry piers ... people have to walk a long way to the pier and that's it, there is nothing else. "It's just all roads. You could sit in a restaurant on top of the ferry pier. If we develop it nicely, there are lots of things that we can do."

Mr Zimmerman said there was a need to have a new government body in charge of the overall development of the coastlines. He said 600 hectares of coastal land was available for development.

Under the plan, the Victoria Harbour district would include a sports stadium, museums, hotels, heliports, ferry terminals, green areas, a zoo and hospital.

It also seeks to expand the public's access with piazzas and promenades, waterfront restaurants, and expanded use of water taxis. The area runs from Tsing Yi Lei Yue Mun.

The council estimated 50,000 jobs could be created and $500 billion could be gained from land sales under the development.

But the proposal was not well-received by the committee.

Chairman Lee Chack-fan described it as creative and academic but requiring the time and effort of a feasibility study. Chief town planner Raymond Wong Wai-man said the plan was risky, adding that the existing development involved district-level development and historical influence.

Director of Planning Bosco Fung Chee-keung said the development should be a step-by-step approach and the council's proposal was too radical.

But Friends of the Earth director Mei Ng Fong Siu-mei said it could start a debate on the planning of the harbour-front development.