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1. Marine Police HQ makes room for hotel

2. Li to spend $1b at police site

3. Waterfront's future 'depends on compromise'

4. Developer accused of back-door dealings

5. Speech by Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

1. Marine Police HQ makes room for hotel
ERNEST KONG, SCMP 3 May 2004

An artist's impression of the proposed Cheung Kong development.

Cheung Kong (Holdings) has unveiled a $650 million scheme to convert the former Marine Police headquarters in Tsim Sha Tsui - built 120 years ago on a hill overlooking Victoria Harbour - into a 132,000 sq ft hotel and retail complex.

Described as a prime example of tropical colonial Victorian architecture, the building will be converted into a "super deluxe" hotel with 20 to 30 rooms. About a third of its 50,000 sq ft space will be devoted to restaurants and shops.

The project forms part of the government's plan to revitalise Tsim Sha Tsui, with the remainder of the site on the junction of Salisbury and Canton roads developed into a shopping complex housing top fashion brands and a piazza.

Chan Hon-shing, Cheung Kong's project manager for the site, said: "We want to bring the historical site back to the public. People in Salisbury Road will have a better view of the building with a partly evacuated slope."

Cheung Kong did not rule out operating the hotel itself.

"We are in talks with some top fashion brands for leasing," Mr Chan said, but did not disclose names.

The building was the venue for last Friday's party by Italian fashion house Prada to celebrate the opening of its new flagship store in Central.

The building is one of the four oldest surviving government buildings in Hong Kong. The site has been eyed by developers since the Marine Police vacated it in 1996.

Last year, a Cheung Kong subsidiary, Flying Snow, won the redevelopment right by paying $352.8 million for a 50-year land grant. The development cost for the project would be about $5,000 per square foot, Mr Chan said.

Last year, Cheung Kong came under fire from green groups for its design plans, which included the removal of trees from the site.

The latest plans were unveiled amid high expectations by city retailers for brisk business from mainland tourists.

Figures show 8.46 million mainland tourists visited Hong Kong last year, up 25 per cent from last year.

UBS has estimated mainland tourists will spend more than $25 billion shopping in Hong Kong this year.

2. Li to spend $1b at police site
Eli Lau, The Standard 3 May 2004

Property developer Cheung Kong (Holdings) will spend HK$1 billion to convert the former Marine Police headquarters in Tsim Sha Tsui into a heritage tourist complex, the developer has revealed.

The complex, comprising a themed restaurant, hotel and shopping centre, would be completed by 2007 at the earliest, the company's project manager Chan Hon-shing said.

The HK$1 billion investment has included the tender price of HK$352.8 million paid for the 50-year land grant last May.

The redevelopment, located at the junction of Salisbury and Canton Roads, includes a 118-year-old Victorian colonial main building. Chan said the company planned to convert the main building into a hotel with as many as 80 guest rooms, along with a two-to-three-storey shopping arcade.

The entire project, covering a total of 132,000 square feet in gross floor area, would be built with plot ratio less than 1, Chan said.

The project was awarded by the Tourism Commission to Flying Snow, a subsidiary of Li Ka-shing's Cheung Kong last May.

Cheung Kong, which beat five other bidders, has expressed confidence it will ``bring an exciting addition to the tourism attractions in Hong Kong'', and complement other facilities in the prime tourist district. It is the first time the private sector has been involved in preserving as well as developing buildings of historic significance into a heritage tourism site. In February, the Town Planning Board approved the developer's scheme, saying its proposals for tree preservation were ``more convincing'' than in the previous plan. The board had deferred the application pending further information on tree-preservation methods on the site.

Chan said the developer would build barriers around the trees during the construction, and keep submitting the preservation reports to the government. One of the trees that will be preserved is a giant banyan tree at the junction of Salisbury and Canton roads

Some reports said the first plan would have involved removing most of the trees from the picturesque wooded knoll overlooking the harbour. The developer has estimated that the project will create 315 jobs during the construction phase and another 500 once it is operational.

3. Waterfront's future 'depends on compromise'
SARA BRADFORD, SCMP 3 May 2004

Victoria Harbour can only be revived if the government, developers and anti-reclamation groups learn the art of compromise.

That was the message from Sean O'Neill, director of communications with the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, and one of the guests at today's Designing Hong Kong Harbour District conference.

He was speaking from experiences learned during Boston's "Big Dig" - an ongoing project to open up the city's waterfront that involved putting roads underground.

For more than a decade, the Big Dig put the city through the same traumas Hong Kong is now experiencing. But Mr O'Neill said the hard work was worth it.

"The end result is ... that [compromise] will bring the harbour back to life," he said. "It is difficult [to compromise] and that's not unusual because people get entrenched in their position. Compromise is the significant issue we learned from Boston."

Yesterday, he toured Victoria Harbour's waterfront in an open-topped bus. "From my perspective, access is a major issue," he said.

Mr O'Neill said the public's wishes should not be ignored. "We learned the hard way," he said. "One third of the cost [of the Big Dig] was litigation."

Redesigning Victoria Harbour was an opportunity for residents, businessmen and the government to work together to create something world-class.

"It is important that all the parties involved work together because the benefit will be for everyone," he said.

Mr O'Neill said that worldwide, waterfronts were being transformed from industrial areas to living, working environments.

Paul Zimmerman, chief co-ordinator of the Designing Hong Kong Harbour District initiative, said today's event was the first international conference on sustainable planning for Victoria Harbour.

"The sharing of both local know-how and internationally acclaimed examples will help us to identify creative solutions for sustainable urban planning of the harbour district," he said.

The government is also participating in the conference, and the South China Morning Post is the event's media sponsor.

4. Developer accused of back-door dealings
CHEUNG CHI-FAI, SCMP 3 May 2004

The Sham Chung area that may become a golf course is home to a number of important species, say green groups, who fear development would destroy the habitat. Picture by Cheung Chi-fai

Environmentalists fear property giant Sun Hung Kai is using back-door methods to try to get a controversial golf course development approved in Sai Kung by submitting the proposal directly to Tung Chee-hwa.

According to a previously undisclosed government document seen by the Post, the company submitted a proposal to the chief executive's private secretary last November.

The plan was for a "resort development comprising villa guesthouses and a nine-hole golf course".

Sun Hung Kai has long held ambitions to construct a golf course on the site it owns in Sham Chung village.

But the unzoned land is governed by a lease that describes the site as agricultural land and an amendment to the lease is likely to be required before a golf resort can be completed.

Applications for such amendments are normally made through the Lands Department. Green Power's head of conservation Cheng Luk-ki described the submission of the plan to Mr Tung as "unusual".

"Why did a big company have to do it?" he said. "Why are they not going through proper procedures? Do they think this can help them achieve some objectives they fear they could not achieve and therefore have decided to take such a short cut?"

A source at Sun Hung Kai described the submission as a "conceptual plan" and pledged that the firm "will not skip the necessary application procedures".

Nothing had been requested or anticipated of Mr Tung in relation to the presentation of the plan, the source said.

Sun Hung Kai has already laid turf and constructed what appear to be either water hazards or sand bunkers on the site.

None of the works apparently constitutes a breach of the lease rules.

Green groups say the wetland area is home to several important species and a golf course and resort would destroy their habitat.

Officials have said that if the project goes ahead, the company might not even have to conduct a detailed environmental impact assessment since the project "had started" before the assessment laws came into effect in 1998.

The chief executive's office confirmed last week that it had received the submission, which was then referred to the Commissioner for Tourism, Eva Cheung Yu-wah, who consulted various departments for comment.

"The proposal is conceptual in nature and no formal application to take forward the proposal has been received," Mr Tung's office said.

A spokeswoman for the Tourism Commission also said they had received the plan.

An indigenous villager at Sham Chung, who declined to be named, said he had seen executives from Sun Hung Kai visiting the site months ago.

"They just came to check their land to see if someone has illegally occupied it," he said.

The Tourism Commission spokeswoman said they welcomed any proposal that could enhance the tourism potential of Hong Kong, and all proposals would need to fulfil statutory requirements such as addressing the environmental impact.

A spokesman for the Housing, Planning and Lands Bureau said that any changes to the site's land lease might involve the company paying an additional land premium.

The Planning Department also said that if the proposal involved use of government land, the company might have to swap land elsewhere in return.

5. Speech by Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
Hong Kong Government, 3 May 2004

Following is the speech by the Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands Bureau, Mr Michael Suen, at the EnviroSeries Conference 2004 - Designing Hong Kong Harbour District today (May 3).

Mr Long, Mr Zimmerman, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:

Good morning. It is a great honour for me to join you today at the annual "EnviroSeries" Conference for 2004, which has been organised by the Business Environment Council. It is an important and timely gathering that brings together business leaders, professionals, government officials and NGO representatives from Hong Kong and overseas. Our aims are to exchange ideas, share knowledge and pool invaluable experience from around the world on ways to enliven metropolitan harbour-front areas.

The focus of this conference is "Designing Hong Kong Harbour District". Obviously, this subject has attracted huge interest in the Hong Kong community. It has also sparked intense debate in recent months. I am thankful to the council for inviting me to speak here today, so that I may reiterate the commitment of the Hong Kong Government to protecting and enhancing Victoria Harbour, as well as the efforts we have made, and will continue to make, in this direction.

A Commitment to Protecting the Harbour

Our harbour is an irreplaceable natural asset. It has played a crucial role in Hong Kong's growth and prosperity in the past 150 years or more. In fact, our harbour gave birth to Hong Kong. When its advantages as a natural haven for shipping became known, it stimulated the development of the city into a leading international commercial hub; thus laying the foundations for its evolution as Asia's world city.

Today, it still plays an enormously valuable part in Hong Kong's economic life. Every year, millions of visitors pour into Hong Kong from around the globe to admire its grandeur. Many of them have compared the vistas of Hong Kong and its harbour with other world-renowned waterfront cities, including Sydney, San Francisco, Rio de Janeiro and Cape Town.

But, to us citizens of Hong Kong, our harbour also has a special significance. It is a symbol of our city and our way of life. One of the earliest memories I had as a child, watching all the fascinating activities taking place on its waters, as well as along the waterfront, and feeling enthralled by its magic. I am sure many of you here today have similar memories too. Our harbour is something we all cherish. We enjoy looking at it and being close to it when we are here; and something we remember and dream about when we find ourselves far away from home.

It is therefore only natural that people from all walks of life feel very protective about our harbour. This concern has become stronger and stronger in recent years; hand-in-hand with increased general awareness about the need to safeguard our natural environment and plan for the future of our city in line with the principles of sustainable development.

It cannot be denied that Hong Kong is forever growing. Indeed, if it did not continue to grow, it would stagnate and decay, and that would be to the detriment of all of us. One of our great challenges is to find ways to cope with growth in a sustainable manner, and within a very limited land area. We must accommodate an ever-increasing population, as well as the infrastructure we need to ensure a healthy, comfortable and convenient living environment.

Reclamation has always been a key method we have used to create the land resources to meet our social, economic and environmental needs. Besides homes and commercial buildings, reclamation has made possible many of the public facilities and amenities that add a lot to our lives.

If you look along the northern shoreline of Hong Kong Island, you will see the Legislative Council Building and public gardens in Central, the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wanchai, and Victoria Park in Causeway Bay. Across the harbour, we have the Cultural Centre and the adjacent museum complex in Tsim Sha Tsui. All these have been built on reclaimed land. Further afield, the same is true of the Hong Kong International Airport and the Container Port, both of which are vital components of our economic life.

Of course, our harbour has a finite area. We cannot keep on reclaiming it forever. Over the years, we have recognised this fact more and more strongly. We have also realised the importance of a prudent balance between growth and conservation. On the one hand, we aim to pursue carefully planned growth in accordance with the principles of sustainable development, to make our city a better place to live in. On the other hand, we seek to preserve and further enhance Hong Kong's natural environment and heritage, of which our harbour is the most prominent example.

We also acknowledge the need to return our harbour to the people - to give both citizens and visitors the unfettered access they need to enjoy its beauty to the full. In this respect, all of us agree that there are still currently many shortcomings in terms of limited accessibility to the harbour, and the waterfront amenities on the shoreline of Hong Kong Island.

The Government's Pledge

The government has carefully considered how we can achieve a balance between conserving our harbour and developing it in a way that opens it up to the community. We have begun implementing a series of programmes that demonstrate our commitment to protecting our harbour - our reclamation plans at Kowloon Point, Tsim Sha Tsui, Tsuen Wan Bay and Green Island have all been dropped completely. What little that remain have been substantially modified. The extent of the Central Reclamation Phase III has been reduced from the original planned 32 hectares to 18.

The events of the past six months did not negate our commitment to the harbour in any way. In fact, they have created an even greater recognition of its importance; and they have given us the benefit of a final and authoritative interpretation of the Protection of the Harbour Ordinance. They also re-affirmed our harbour's special status as a unique public asset, and a part of the natural heritage of Hong Kong and its people. They have focused everyone's minds more firmly on the need to protect our Harbour. From now on any reclamation proposal will have to pass the "overriding public need test", and it must be demonstrated that there are no reasonable alternatives to reclamation.

In addition, we recognise the importance of explaining our proposals to the public, and gauging their views. This has to be an ongoing process that starts at the early planning stages, then continues through various other key stages of the feasibility studies, and up to the point where the final decisions are made.

An End to Reclamation

Looking ahead, the government has made a public pledge that - apart from the current Central Reclamation, the proposed Wan Chai North Development and Southeast Kowloon Development - there will be no further reclamation within the harbour in the future.

The Central Reclamation and Wan Chai North Development are the final phases of an integrated programme that was originally initiated in the 1980s. Apart from providing the much needed relief for traffic congestion, this programme has the added objectives of protecting and enhancing our Harbour and opening it up for people to enjoy; thus maximising its benefits to the community and making it a waterfront worthy of Hong Kong's status as Asia's world city.

In this respect, our overall goals for enhancement are to make the waterfront:

* First, SYMBOLIC - a reflection of Hong Kong's unique identity;

* Second, ATTRACTIVE - incorporating carefully planned greenery and landscaping that creates an aesthetically pleasing result from every perspective;

* Third, ACCESSIBLE - designed to encourage visitors by giving them easy access; and

* Fourth, VIBRANT - offering amenities and activities to draw people from all walks of life by catering to their varied interests and tastes.

When the two remaining reclamation phases are completed, they will also provide much-needed underground infrastructure facilities to meet our growing road and rail transportation needs.

Moreover, the completion of the Central Reclamation will provide us with:

* First, a continuous, crescent-shaped promenade running from the Convention and Exhibition Centre to the IFC, where people can enjoy spectacular views of the Harbour and skyline;

* Second, landscaping and public gardens that offer a sanctuary from the bustling city streets, and a venue for open-air performances and festive celebrations;

* Third, leisure, tourism and related retail facilities; and

* Fourth, a place where exhibition vessels and small tourist craft will be able to berth.

As for the Wan Chai North project, in the light of the Court of Final Appeal's judgment, we embarked on an integrated planning and engineering feasibility study in March this year. In a couple of months' time, we plan to consult the public on the scope of the study as well as the broad concepts relating to land use. The views we receive will form the basis for developing more detailed land-use plans.

Turning to Southeast Kowloon, since the 1990's, the government has initiated feasibility studies to examine optimal land uses and development intensity at the site of the former Airport. In view of the "overriding public need test" requirement, we are prepared to once again review appropriate land uses for this valuable piece of land, starting with a "no reclamation" basis.

In considering these remaining harbour development proposals, we are committed to engaging the community in a proactive way during the early stages of the review, and also throughout its entire process. The new Harbour-front Enhancement Committee, which I will talk about in more detail in a moment, will play a key role in this process.

The Harbour-front Enhancement Committee

In the past few months, many people in our community have expressed their concerns about further reclamation. We recognise their sincerity, and we appreciate their contributions. In the past, we have given a lot of consideration to their valuable input. At the same time, we have aimed to correct misapprehensions and misunderstandings about what we plan to do.

Now, we are engaged in deepening this dialogue between the government and the community. We want to put past acrimony behind us and move forward in addressing the concerns that have been raised. As far as possible, we hope to achieve a consensus about the harbour's future with all the other stakeholders concerned - both individuals and organisations. In this way, we seek a common vision for enhancing our Harbour.

In this context, I am very pleased that we have successfully established the Harbour-front Enhancement Committee. Its chairman and members have been appointed, and it will hold its first meeting in just a few days' time, on May 6. It is particularly gratifying that concern groups, such as the Society for Protection of the Harbour, have agreed to participate in the committee and put their views forward in this forum.

The government will give its full backing to the committee, and we will take careful note of its discussions and recommendations. Its meetings will be open to the public, so I do urge all of you to participate, and to encourage other interested parties to do likewise. I look forward to the committee playing a key role in the reviews that we are undertaking, and in coming up with innovative ideas on how to deliver "quick-win" harbour-front improvement projects in a sustainable manner.

I am confident that, through the joint efforts of the government and the community, the remaining harbour development projects will help to make Hong Kong a much more pleasant city to live in and visit. They will give us a waterfront we can be more proud of than ever; one that is on par with such acclaimed locations as Darling Harbour in Sydney, Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, and the Embankment in London. Our harbour will once again be a place where local people and visitors can stroll, relax, and draw inspiration from the awe-inspiring views that make Hong Kong such a unique city.

Thank you.