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1. Call to halt auction of prime sites
2. Activists fear wall effect in West Kowloon

1. Call to halt auction of prime sites
Fion Li, SCMP 16 April 2007

The government is under mounting pressure to change its building guidelines to reduce the health threat posed to residents by the "wall-like effects" of skyscrapers to be built in densely populated areas.

Environmental group Green Sense has called for the withdrawal of prime West Kowloon sites from the land application list for public auction to eliminate what it calls the "grave danger" to the health of residents, particularly the elderly, if high-rises are built there.

"We want the government to lower the plot ratio to five or even less and set limits on the alignment of buildings immediately. Air ventilation tests should also be done before the master layout plan is drafted," Green Sense president Roy Tam Hoi-pong said Sunday.

Last month a number of legislators lashed out at the construction of two skyscrapers on northern Hong Kong Island facing Tsim Sha Tsui, warning they will create a "wall-like effect" and block air flow and sunlight in Central. The tight disposition of high-rises above the Kowloon-Canton Railway stations at Tai Wai and at Tai Kok Tsui also stirred controversy because of the potential "wall-like effect" in the districts.

Green Sense said it investigated all 46 lots now on the Buildings Department's land application list and found at least 12 sites in Yau Ma Tei, Hung Hom, Wong Tai Sin and Tung Chung that are likely to be packed with high- rises along the coastline that may create a "wall-like effect."

It said such an effect will result in poor air ventilation and cause temperatures to rise in the inner parts of the city, threatening residents' health.

"The result is a shock. The government should review the urban design guidelines of these lots, such as tightening the height limits," Tam said.

"Air ventilation guidelines should also be applied to private infrastructure projects."

At present, only major government projects are bound by guidelines on air ventilation.

According to the green group, the "risky lots" include a residential site in Yau Ma Tei, at the junction of Hoi Wang, Yan Cheung and Yau Cheung roads, with an area of 86,758 square feet and a plot ratio of 7.5.

Analysts said the site could fetch between HK$3.6 billion and HK$5.2 billion at an auction May 8 - the first in the 2007-08 fiscal year.

However, Green Sense said the site might be turned into a complex of 40-story buildings, with a maximum height of 130 meters.

Its total gross floor area could "inflated" by 20 percent at a plot ratio of nine.

"The mere numeral in the plot ratio is indeed meaningless," said architect Vincent Ng Wing-shum.

"Those so-called `green facilities' like podiums, gardens, clubhouses and mail-box areas are excluded from the current plot ratio, so the large-scale infrastructure projects become `inflated' into even larger ones."

Green Sense and residents in Yau Ma Tei saw the prime site at Hoi Wan Road as "the sole large ventilating window left in West Kowloon ."

Benny Yeung Tsz-hei, a resident of Yau Ma Tei, said: "If you stand in the streets in Yau Ma Tei, such as Public Square Street, you can feel the breeze coming in from the Hoi Wan Road lot.

"The wind helps ease the pollution in nearby Nathan Road . But if the 40-story buildings are built, air ventilation in Yau Ma Tei will be poorer and threaten our health."

Lisa Ki Yuet-yuen, another Yau Ma Tei resident of more than 30 years, said the area's temperature had risen because of the surrounding new high-rises in Tsim Sha Tsui and above the MTR's Kowloon station.

"I have to turn on my air conditioners every day in summer. These high-rises not only block my sea view, but also the fresh air that comes along," she said.

They urged the government not to publish the gazette notice for the Hoi Wan Road lot on April 20 and reconsider the urban design guidelines for the site.

2. Activists fear wall effect in West Kowloon
JOSHUA BUT , SCNP 16 April 2007

A green group yesterday urged government departments to take a fresh look at the sites listed for sale in the application list system, as they might become "giant high-rises" in the future, further worsening air quality across the city.

Twelve lots, at West Kowloon , Hung Hom, Tung Chung and other coastal sites, were of concern to Green Sense as high-rises of more than 100 metres were permitted.

The group said these high-rises - usually more than 40 storeys tall - would form a wall at the coastline and trap smog and heat in the district.

Chairman Roy Tam Hoi-pong said the government could prevent this "wall effect" from happening if it took action in advance.

"It will be too late after the plots are auctioned," he said. "However, officials have a lot of flexibility when the plots are still on the list for sale." Particulars of West Kowloon 's land auction will be gazetted on Friday.

"The government should make use of these few days to consider lowering the plot ratio or restricting the height or density of the buildings if they are not to jeopardise the residents' health."

Mr Tam highlighted an empty lot at the junction of Hoi Wang Road , Yan Cheung Road and Yau Cheung Road in West Kowloon reclamation area yesterday, saying that it would be up for auction early next month.

The lot was planned for residential purposes with a plot ratio of 7.5. Its height was limited to 130 metres.

"The location of the lot is the only channel left for ventilation in West Kowloon . But a land auction would mean an unprecedented wall effect as two blocks of 40-storey buildings would be erected on the site," he said.

Architect Ng Wing-shun criticised the present town planning procedure as "out-of-date", as the living environment of residents was not considered.

"Height limits and plot ratio are merely meaningless numbers to the residents in Yau Ma Tei, as they have no idea how big their neighbourhood high-rises are until they are built," he said. "But that is a matter affecting their living standard."

He added that the so-called green features, such as a sky garden and lobby, would grant the developers extra gross floor areas and that would make the high-rises even more gigantic.

Lisa Ki Yuet-yuen, who has lived in Ferry Street for more than 30 years, said air quality had worsened in the past few years after several high-rises were erected. "[The high-rises] have blocked the coastline, together with fresh air and the breezes. It is so uncomfortable to be surrounded."