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looking for. 1. A mixed reception
2. New Kai Tak a hub for work and play 3. Survey and construction groups support Tamar project 4.
Cartoon 5. Tamar 6.
Give us our harbourfront
1. A mixed reception
Leslie Kwoh, Carrie Chan and Raymond Wang, The Standard 22 June 2006
A blueprint for the old Kai Tak airport runway, released by the administration Wednesday, met with mixed reviews as a number of lawmakers and activists questioned the sustainability of the largely commercially focused design.
Under the preliminary outline development plan, the site will provide 700,000 square meters of Grade-A office space - with a plot ratio of up to 9.5 - more than that at Island East and almost four times the area proposed in one of the original concept plans.
The runway will also house 17 large hotels, providing a total of 6,800 new hotel rooms - the equivalent of half of the hotels in Tsim Sha Tsui.
Hotel operators will be responsible for building adjacent public facilities, such as a bus terminus, a government source said.
A two-berth cruise terminal, helipad and 50,000-capacity sports stadium have all been retained from the three concept plans to ensure the site becomes a tourism and sports hub.
While the government will undertake development of the controversial cruise terminal to "avoid allegations of collusion with developers," the source said tenders will still be invited for the operation of services at the terminal.
About 90 hectares of road network, comprising 25 percent of the site area, will be provided to link the site to the surrounding districts of Kowloon City , Kowloon Bay and Ngau Tau Kok, and an underwater trunk road will link the runway to Kwun Tong and Tseung Kwan O.
The site is expected to become one of the city's four n ew "icons" - including the Tamar headquarters, the Convention and Exhibition Centre and the West Kowloon cultural district - centered around Victoria Park.
The government could reap more than HK$200 billion from the expected sale of residential, office and hotel sites, industry observers said.
The most valuable would be the low-rise and medium-rise waterfront residential land, estimated to be worth more than HK$10,000 per square foot, due to limited land supply in urban areas, Centaline Surveyors associate director Chris Chau Man-leuk said.
The site would attract keen interest from consortia of mid-tier developers and key developers who earlier proposed a cruise terminal outside the district, he added.
East Kowloon constituency legislator Chan Kam-lam, of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, expressed concern about the balance between commercial and residential developments at the site.
According to one of the three original concept plans, the site could house 46,000 residential flats but Wednesday's plan provided for only 30,500 flats - one-third public housing - to house a population of 86,500.
Even so, the residential component is larger than the size of two Tai Koo Shing private housing developments.
Chan also questioned the feasibility of transporting 50,000 people from the site after a sports event, saying he doubts the proposed bus terminus and the Sha Tin-Central line - which would pass through the site via the Kai Tak station - could support that capacity.
Harbor activist Paul Zimmerman agreed, saying the site's commercial viability would depend on whether there are enough residents in the area to sustain business.
The site will also house a number of public facilities, such as a five- hectare regional hospital and a one- hectare government office - representing the highest point of the site, at 175 meters tall.
More than 100 hectares of the site would be devoted to open space, much of it situated along the harbor in Metro Park , which will be more than 30 percent larger than Victoria Park.
The government plans to demolish a 600-meter long stretch at that location in order to clean the polluted nullah, the source said. The park would then be built on top of a deck, which would sit on top of pilings in order to allow for the free flow of water between the nullah and the harbor.
Retired architect and lawmaker Patrick Lau Sau-shing welcomed the park's design, saying it was the "most innovative and best part of the whole plan."
In addition, the placement of the park on the runway would allow the public the unique experience of being surrounded on both sides by water.
But Lau, who is also the former vice chairman of the Town Planning Board, said he sees a number of heated debates on the horizon, mostly involving the integration of the site with the surrounding communities.
The placement of the Sha Tin- Central railway depot, for example, would effectively create a wall between the site and Kowloon City , he said.
The location of the Kwun Tong typhoon shelter also remains a problem, Lau said, as retaining the shelter would rule out the possibility of linking the tip of the runway to Kwun Tong via a flyover.
On the other hand, the government's new 10-year plan to phase out the shelter is bound to stir opposition from the cargo industry, Lau predicts.
East Kowloon constituency legislator Fred Li Wah-wing, of the Democratic Party, said he welcomes the new plans, provided the government has resolved all pollution issues.
Chan, however, demanded the government provide specific details on how it plans to clean the nullah to ensure no contamination enters the harbor.
The new plan was released on the eve of the anticipated Finance Committee vote on the HK$5.1 billion Tamar project, which is expected to pass with a majority vote tomorrow.
Of the various political parties, the DAB was the only one to receive a private government briefing on the blueprint. Civic Party lawmaker Alan Leong Kah-kit said he suspects his party was deliberately excluded due to recent tensions with the government over the project.
The government tomorrow plans to submit the new Kai Tak plans to the Town Planning Board and the Harborfront Enhancement Committee to begin consultation. Public consultation will continue until the end of August, and a final design is expected to come out by the end of the year.
If the design receives approval from the Town Planning Board, construction will begin in 2008 with the aim to complete the cruise terminal by 2011.
The property market, however, is unlikely to see a significant immediate impact as plots are not expected to be put up for sale until 2008 or 2009.
2. New Kai Tak a hub for work and play
MAY CHAN , SCMP 22 June 2006 
The former Kai Tak airport and surrounding area will be transformed into a sports, tourism and business hub boasting three times more grade-A office space than the two International Finance Centre buildings combined. The Kai Tak Draft Preliminary Outline Development Plan, which will be released for a two-month public consultation following its submission to the Town Planning Board on Friday, was unveiled at a media briefing yesterday. The government officials who released the plans, but did not wish to be named, said construction work was scheduled to begin in 2010. The project will add 700,000 square metres of grade-A office space to the existing 182,500 square metres of office space in the area, which covers the former airport site as well as part of Kowloon Bay and Kowloon City . The plan has a much lower development density than earlier government proposals. Domestic plot ratio is limited to between 3.0 and 5.0 and non-domestic plot ratio to between 4.0 and 9.5. The plan includes 29,000 flats - including public housing and private homes in low-density estates - that will house 86,500 people. A 27.3-hectare stadium complex and a cruise terminal would be built adopting a zero-reclamation approach, the source said, creating new landmarks on Victoria Harbour . As part of the plan, 600 metres of the old runway will be removed to improve water flow from the Kai Tak nullah. A heliport is planned for the tip of the old runway to cater for cross-border helicopter services. A government spokeswoman said the business belt in Kai Tak should serve to meet the demand for premier office space, since development in established business districts such as Central and Wan Chai had already reached saturation point. Town planners and property experts said the redevelopment plan should rejuvenate the southeast Kowloon district, but that it was unlikely Kai Tak would become another major commercial and business district. Charles Chan Chiu-kwok, a director of property agent Savills, predicted that office rents at Kai Tak would not exceed those in Tsim Sha Tsui, which range from $30 to $40 per sq ft. Prime grade-A office space in Central costs an average of $67 per sq ft to rent. "Central is where key government units and financial institutions converge," Mr Chan said. "It is not something Kai Tak can copy. "Kai Tak may not even surpass Tsim Sha Tsui in terms of tourism and business value because Tsim Sha Tsui has more established transport links and tourism facilities, and offers better views." He projected that the low-density private flats planned would sell for between $8,000 and $9,000 per sq ft. It would not have a big impact on the mass-residential market in the district, he said. Pong Yuen-yee, vice-president of the Hong Kong Institute of Planners, said Kai Tak would resemble a "greener version of Tsim Sha Tsui". The planning of Kai Tak had addressed the demand for more open space in urban areas, and the low-density nature of the development should preserve access to the harbour and protect ridge-line views, she noted. She said it would be important to provide strong pedestrian connections from Kai Tak to nearby neighbourhoods to make up for the lack of open space and community facilities in southeast Kowloon .
Government sources said an underground shopping street would connect Kai Tak with Kowloon City to improve accessibility.
3. Survey and construction groups support Tamar project
POLLY HUI and BARCLAY CRAWFORD , SCMP 22 June 2006
The surveying and construction sectors yesterday backed the government's $5.1 billion plan to build a new headquarters on the Tamar site, on the eve of a Legislative Council meeting to approve funding for the controversial proposal.
The Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors and the Hong Kong Construction Association denied the government had lobbied them for support so the project would get the go-ahead.
"What is essentially a technical issue has been over-politicised. The issue should not be dominated by political parties. Rather, they should listen to the opinions of the professionals," said Paul Ho Hok-keung, chairman of the institute's quantity surveying division. "You have to compare an apple with an apple."
He was referring to a claim by Civic Party members that the unit construction cost of the Tamar headquarters was nearly twice that of Two IFC.
The Civic Party is the only political party opposing the project.
Mr Ho said that the user requirements for the proposed government headquarters and Legislative Council building and those for buildings such as Two IFC were different.
The government estimates each square metre of the Tamar complex will cost $18,800 to build, compared with $15,500 per square metre for a grade-A office building.
Mr Ho said the difference could be explained by the need for furnishings and designs that met security, environmental and earthquake-proofing requirements for government buildings. Piling costs would also be higher because of the boulders under the Tamar landfill.
Mr Ho said the government had not helped its cause by only explaining how $3 billion of the $5.1 billion would be spent.
"I was shocked with the way the government presented the figures and estimates. I believe they did not reveal all the figures for security and political concerns. But I don't think it's a smart move," he said.
The Hong Kong Construction Association said it supported the project because it met required guidelines.
Conrad Wong, the association's president, said: "There has been an exhaustive process over 13 years where every possibility has been considered.
"There have been enough evaluations and if we start again it becomes an endless spiral."
The project would also create at least 2,700 jobs in a depressed industry, he said.
4. Cartoon
SCMP 22 June 2006
5. Tamar
Letter to the Editor, SCMP 22 June 2006
In recent weeks the South China Morning Post has published so many letters and articles giving cogent reasons why the Tamar project should not go ahead there that seems nothing left to say - except for the fact that, as Simon Li Fook-sean and Winston Chu Ka-sun pointed out in "Don't build without public support" (June 19), there will be no turning back if (when) the Legislative Council Finance Committee approves the funding tomorrow. The truth, of course, is that pushing the Tamar project through is nothing more than an expression of "strong governance" in advance of the chief executive election next year. And future generations will pay the price for short-term political ambition.
SIMON MARTIN, Happy Valley
Tamar is a metaphor for a city without democracy; grass that cannot be walked on; seats that cannot be sat upon; memories of happy outdoor markets, low-rise buildings and neighbours that we knew; woeful public architecture; smog; concrete and pedestrians pushed off the ground onto elevated walkways. It is about increasingly dogmatic and arrogant bureaucrats deciding what is right for you and me as they demand $5.1billion - without presenting a detailed architectural plan - to secure the best view in town.
JOHN BATTEN, Sheung Wan
Whether renovating an apartment or building a new town, the wise protagonist will ensure that proper consideration is given to all aspects before a contractor is even asked to give a price. Yet here we have the government rushing to build, with unknowns at every turn. As a client design adviser for the Royal Institute of British Architects, I recommend our legislators insist the government employ independent experts to develop a comprehensive and transparent strategic brief for the whole Central harbourfront, based on input from all stakeholders. Hong Kong must start planning for the future, rather than rushing for the present.
SANTA RAYMOND, Central
It may be a wee late but it's worth a shot, so I'll get straight to the point. Why not build the government headquarters on the site of the soon-to-be-demolished Central Market? It is in the heart of Central and served by all public transport networks, which means there will be no need for civil servants to use cars. The height of the headquarters could be at least as high as the buildings next door, and greenery could be planted all round. Moreover, such a plan would silence all the hullabaloo about the desecration of the harbourfront with one stroke.
MICHAEL FUNK, Kowloon Tong
I know the chief executive has torpedoed this idea already, but he really should reconsider building his Tower of Power at Kai Tak. After all, wouldn't the government be more efficient in a quieter, less polluted area? If the headquarters were built at Kai Tak, Donald Tsang Yam-kuen could build as big and tall as he liked, no one would complain of trapped pollution, and no reclamation or roads would be required. Then the asphyxiated people of Hong Kong could have a truly world-class park on the harbourfront at Tamar, where they could relax, take off their shoes and walk on real grass. Here's your chance, Mr Tsang, to build the headquarters of your dreams and create something for the people.
JAMES WARREN, Tze Wan Shan
6. Give us our harbourfront
Letter to the Editor, SCMP 22 June 2006
Let's be blunt: the harbourfront at Tamar will be lost to us ordinary people forever if - I mean, when - the government complex is completed. It will be surrounded by spiked fences and iron gates manned by guards
Something happens when a person dons an official cap: he reduces old-age benefits to build fishponds and decorate his home, and becomes blind and deaf to the opinions of others.
There's abundant office space available at Cyberport if the government wants fresh air and togetherness. Give us a harbourfront of gardens and trees, clean up the harbour and our air, and spend our taxes wisely. I know my wishes are irrelevant to the government, but I state them for the record. I do not presume to speak for anyone but myself - unlike our chief executive, who authoritatively speaks for 70 per cent of us. It is hard to control my anger and feeling of helplessness in the face of such megalomania.
M. NG, Wan Chai
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