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1. Planner rejects harbour facelift criticism

1. Planner rejects harbour facelift criticism
Keith Wallis, The Standard 15 April 2003

A senior counsel representing the Town Planning Board yesterday rejected criticism of the government's handling of its move to reclaim part of the harbour.

``Any suggestion the government paid only lip service to the [harbour protection] ordinance is unfair,'' Robert Tang said, adding that it was ``the duty of the government to ensure land is not wasted'' while it was the duty of the ``Town Planning Board to make sure the best use of the land'' was made.

He was responding to claims in submissions made by the Society for Protection of the Harbour that the government cared little for upholding the harbour protection law.

Tang said the government's support for the ordinance was shown in 1999 when then Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands, Bowen Leung, introduced a bill to extend the area of the harbour covered by the law.

He added that the good sense of government to uphold the ordinance should not be underrated.

Tang was speaking at a judicial review, near the end of the board's response to claims by the harbour protection society that it acted illegally when it approved outline plans for the Wan Chai reclamation. The society said the board broke the law, which presumes against reclamation except for essential infrastructure, when it gave the go-ahead to reclamation for a harbour park, a hotel and extension to the convention centre. This was in addition to reclamation needed for the Central-Wan Chai bypass and rail links. Some 7.6 hectares is needed for the infrastructure links, whereas the government aims to reclaim about 27 hectares.

The board's view is the reclamation is needed to help create a waterfront of international standards and is fully in keeping with its vision statement to ``bring the harbour to the people and the people to the harbour''.

Tang said a small area of the reclaimed land, that would be infilled anyway to improve water quality in the Causeway Bay typhoon shelter, would be used for the 128,000-square-metre convention centre extension.

Later, Anthony Neoh, SC, for the society, said there was one central issue facing the court - whether the board had acted in accordance with the law when it approved the Wan Chai scheme. This was after it had rejected outstanding objections and amended the outline zoning plan twice.

Starting his final submission, Neoh hoped Justice Carlye Chu would uphold the society's complaint, state what reclamation was permissible under the law and direct that the plan was sent back to the board and reconsidered.

The hearing is expected to end today.