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1. Government hits back at Tamar critics

2. Activists hail rethink on cultural district

1. Government hits back at Tamar critics
MAY CHAN, JIMMY CHEUNG and MARTIN WONG , SCMP 4 April 2006

The government last night hit back at criticism that it had played down the environmental impact of building its new headquarters at Tamar.

The accusation was levelled by Designing Hong Kong Harbour District convenor Paul Zimmerman at a Legislative Council subcommittee meeting yesterday on the development of the Central waterfront. "It is misleading to say that it will only add 3 per cent to the traffic load because it could actually go up 13 per cent in peak hours," Mr Zimmerman said.

Academic Bill Barron said building new government offices at Tamar could hinder the dispersion of air pollutants.

"The new government offices will create deep canyons which trap air pollution," said Professor Barron, a visiting scholar at the Institute for the Environment of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Civic Exchange chief executive Christine Loh Kung-wai has urged the government to conduct a thorough environmental impact assessment of the Tamar project.

Last night, the Environmental Protection Department said an environmental impact assessment (EIA) report for the third phase of the Central reclamation, conducted five years ago, had already covered existing and planned developments, including the proposed government headquarters at the Tamar site in Admiralty.

"The EIA report concluded that the Tamar development would not cause any adverse impact on air quality," a department spokesman said.

He said the public had been consulted about the report in July and August 2001, and it had been endorsed by the Advisory Council on the Environment before the department approved it in August 2001.

"Given that there is no change in land use in [the third phase of the] Central reclamation, the relevant EIA report is still valid and no updating is required," the spokesman said.

Speaking earlier on RTHK, Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen said a decision on the use of the Tamar site had been made years ago and the government wanted to press ahead with construction as soon as possible.

Mr Tsang noted a court had upheld the decision on the use of the site.

"We are not forcing it through. We are just trying to implement it as soon as possible," he said. "But there is still opposition today. I think that has gone overboard."

He was adamant that a proposal by the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong to build the new government headquarters on the former airport site at Kai Tak was not feasible.

he Legco subcommittee passed a motion moved by Kwok Ka-ki which said that it would not support the Tamar project unless the government conducted an in-depth environmental impact assessment, specified the urgent need to build a new government headquarters at Tamar and explained the future of the Murray Building and existing Central Government Offices. But only three lawmakers voted on it.

2. Activists hail rethink on cultural district
BARCLAY CRAWFORD , SCMP 4 April 2006

Harbourfront activists have won a small victory from the government on the controversial West Kowloon Cultural District. It has decided to keep cultural facilities separate from commercial aspects of the development.

Buried in the government's response to a series of answers to the Legislative Council's committee on the arts hub is the revelation that it intends to establish a separate body to control the cultural elements of the project.

The government says it still intends to use a private-public partnership approach to develop and operate the arts facilities to "positively address the concerns of artists".

"We wish to provide more choices for artists as well as the public, tap innovation and creativity from the private sector and inject different management expertise into the arts and cultural venues in a flexible way," the paper says.

"This is in line with the principle of fostering diversity and pluralism underlying our cultural policy."

Ada Wong Ying-kay, a member of the People's Panel on West Kowloon, said the government should have "seen sense from the start" and kept the two parts of the development separate.

"We are obviously delighted but it's important to note that construction would have started on the hub if they had made this decision in 2002," Ms Wong said.

Harbour activist Paul Zimmerman also said the decision was a step in the right direction for the fledgling development.

In the paper, the government also says it has an "open mind" about funding community aspects of the development.

It lists three possible approaches:

The government announced in February that it was reconsidering plans for the development, which has been plagued with controversy since it was announced in 1998.

he decision came after developers said they were not interested in pursuing the project under the funding arrangements proposed and a Legislative Council subcommittee called for an overhaul of the project's planning and finances.