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1. Heritage conservation built on trust

1. Heritage conservation built on trust
IAN BROWNLEE, SCMP 5 August 2004

The report that some of Hong Kong's public-spirited, well-established families want to put together a charitable foundation to preserve the Central Police Station site, and operate an arts complex there, is great news. But the Tourism Commission is perhaps the wrong body to be leading the process on the sale of this important site, because there is more than just another tourist attraction involved here.

A charitable foundation for heritage conservation is not a new concept. The idea has been proposed by professional groups and developers, but has not received any response from the government.

While the consultation process on a heritage conservation policy drags on, with no sign of progress, concern over the loss of heritage sites continues to make the news. The Wan Chai Market looks set to go, along with Wedding Card Street. No alternatives have been put forward by the government to resolve the issues.

The King Yin Lei Mansion, at 45 Stubbs Road, has received a temporary reprieve, but there is no evidence to show that the preservation of this magnificent building has moved towards a conclusion. The current heritage conservation system cannot react effectively and flexibly in all situations, and does not have sufficient financial support or the legal muscle to do so.

One answer is to move a large part of heritage conservation away from the government and make it the responsibility of a community-based heritage trust. The proposal for the Central Police Station could provide the ideal starting point. Such a trust need not be related only to buildings. It could include many of those things that make up Hong Kong's varied cultural history and heritage, such as the many private collections that many families have accumulated.

What is needed is a system that enables private property of heritage value to be donated, along with money, to a trust that will manage it in the interests of the donor and the general public. An important component would be to structure this process so that any donation is tax deductible, thus providing a financial incentive.

There is a perceived problem that the government does not care sufficiently to take good stewardship of something which is of emotional and probably high monetary value. People may not want to donate to the government, whereas they may do so to a properly established and managed heritage trust.

The first donation should come from the government - and it should be the Central Police Station site. It seems a shame that the only way to preserve a heritage site is to sell it to a developer, with minimal return to the community. The Marine Police Station at Tsim Sha Tsui was sold for development with complex controls to save the existing buildings. A premium of several hundred million dollars was paid to the government for the development rights, and that money went into the general revenue.

If the government had made a gift of the site to a heritage trust, which then sold on some rights to a developer, any premium could be used for other heritage work. Current government expenditure on heritage conservation is only a small fraction of the premium it received from the sale of that site, while heritage conservation is a long way down the funding priority list.

Those who propose to establish a trust to take over the Central Police Station site should perhaps take a wider and longer-term view of the potential public benefits that could arise from establishing a broad based trust, with potential for expansion.

If the trust was established in this way, the donation of the Central Police Station site could be quickly followed by the Wan Chai Market and King Yin Lei Mansion. They could all be saved, and a sound financial basis established for long-term conservation, independent of government funding.

Ian Brownlee is a consultant town planner.