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1. Clean slate as Wan Chai consultation gets started

2. Consultation on harbour's future relaunched

1. Clean slate as Wan Chai consultation gets started
Dennis Chong, The Standard 23 May 2005

The redevelopment of the Wan Chai shoreline is back in the public eye with the latest proposal presented by the government's harborfront advisory body.

Three months after it scrapped a plan that drew immense opposition over reclamation issues, the government rolled out another proposal in an attempt to gain consensus on the future of Victoria Harbour.

A three-month public consultation, which began Sunday, will garner views on how to ``build an accessible and sustainable'' coastal land strip stretching from the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre to the far end of the Causeway Bay typhoon shelter, according to the Harbour-front Enhancement Committee.

The district under scrutiny covers an area that now hosts a range of public and private facilities, including government storage compounds, cooling water pumping stations, the Police Officers' Club, the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, the Noon Day Gun and the Wan Chai Ferry Pier, the committee said Sunday.

A balance will be struck between ``wishes and constraints,'' the committee said.

Whether storage compounds could be turned into an artificial beach or how many activities should be put on the quiet promenade are two of many issues the consultation would address, the committee said.

``It is different from a regular consultation because now there is no plan drawn up,'' said Leung Kong-yui, chairman of a Wan Chai development subgroup of the committee.

Last January, the government lost its case of the Wan Chai North reclamation plan - which it said was vital for the Central-Wan Chai bypass to materialize - at the Court of Final Appeal.

The court ruling forced the planning back to review and future reclamation plans in Wan Chai could not go ahead unless it is backed up by ``overriding'' public needs.

In the middle of last year, the government set up the committee to review harbor planning.

It includes planners, architects, academics, and government officials.

Disclosing details of the consultation, Leung said ``now is not the time to talk about reclamation.''

He said it is more important to gather views from the public before any decision is made.

But Vincent Ng, a member of the subcommittee, said building the Central-Wan Chai bypass is an ``assumption,'' adding that the public would like to see it built without leaving ``too much of a scar'' on the area.

In January, the committee rolled out a three-option proposal for the controversial Central-Wan Chai bypass, requiring from 10 hectares to 25 ha of reclamation.

Three weeks later, they were forced to scrap the plan after strong opposition from anti-reclamation activists, who said it is wrong to make reclamation mandatory.

``We are waiting for ideas to build the [Central-Wan Chai bypass] with zero reclamation,'' Leung said, adding that this consultation will have no pre-requisite.

Public views will be collected through various channels such as workshops and public forums.

2. Consultation on harbour's future relaunched
CHLOE LAI, SCMP 23 May 2005

A harbour advisory committee yesterday relaunched a public consultation on improving waterfront road links connecting Wan Chai and Causeway Bay.

With the release of a new booklet, the harbour advisers urge people to draw up wish lists for an ideal waterfront, saying the consultation will be conducted with an entirely open mind, including to the possibility of no harbour reclamation.

Titled "Harbour-front Enhancement Review - Wan Chai, Causeway Bay and the Adjoining Areas", the Harbour-front Enhancement Committee's latest booklet replaces a controversial earlier version, which was released in January amid recriminations from some members who said they were not consulted before its publication.

The new booklet plays down the earlier three options, which require reclaiming up to 25 hectares. Instead, it asks people whether they want to have new roads along the northern shore of Hong Kong Island.

It also asks for suggestions on road alignments.

It also reminds the public that the Court of Final Appeal established in January last year that any harbour reclamation had to satisfy the so-called "overriding public need" principle.

Building roads to resolve traffic jams in the Central business district has been the government's rationale for current reclamation proposals.

It has argued there is a need to build a road link between Central and the Island Eastern Corridor, which would require reclamation in Wan Chai and Causeway Bay.

Committee member Paul Zimmerman, who was one of the most vocal critics of the booklet's earlier version, said he was satisfied with the latest effort.

"I am happy with it. This one is written entirely by the committee. It is open and inviting," Mr Zimmerman said.

Leung Kong-yui, who chaired the Wan Chai review subcommittee under the advisory group, said the latest consultation was the first of several stages and, at this point, members were not concerned with whether reclamation would go ahead or how much it would cost.

"What we want now is the public telling us how they want their waterfront to look," Mr Leung said.

There would be three stages, with the current consultation slated to end on July 9, he said.

In the second, the committee and its consultants will map out more concrete options for the public to choose from.

In the final stage, a master plan will be drawn up for the scrutiny and approval of the Town Planning Board.

Mr Leung said he expected the last stage to begin early next year.

"Enhancement work will begin in 2007, if there is any," he said.

The first public forum on the issue will be held tonight from 7.30pm at St James' Settlement in Wan Chai.