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1. Morgan Pressel

2. Harbour groups fail to sway city planners

3. Last nail is driven in for Wedding Card St

4. Tuen Mun station project in demand

1. Morgan Pressel
Getty Images, The Standard, 6-7 August 2005 Photo: Getty Images

Morgan Pressel had to go 19 holes to beat Mina Harigae.

2. Harbour groups fail to sway city planners
CHLOE LAI, SCMP 6 August 2005

Proposals from three harbour interest groups have failed to convince the Town Planning Board that it is feasible to scale back the Central reclamation.

The board rejected rezoning requests from the Society for Protection of the Harbour, Save Our Shoreline and Clear the Air yesterday.

"Board members agreed with the government's argument that the current reclamation is already at a minimum," its spokeswoman said after the meeting.

The board also said as one of the applications touched on the Wan Chai reclamation plan, which is under review, it would be wrong to make a decision now.

But board members agreed that some of the concerns raised by the Society for Protection of the Harbour were valid, such as the potential "wall effect" of a massive commercial development.

The board pledged to use a planning brief to ensure good designs and add new conditions to the land-sale document.

Save Our Shoreline called for a 70 per cent reduction in the reclamation by using a tunnel for the traffic bypass.

Clear the Air proposed electronic road-pricing and immediate implementation of tolls to replace the Central-Wan Chai Bypass.

The Society for the Protection of the Harbour proposed an almost complete revamp of the existing zoning plan.

The society said there was no need for commercial development on the reclaimed land and was worried that a low-rise development would be too large and become a "horizontal version of Two IFC".

The society's demands concentrated on turning the reclaimed land into public open space to compensate for reclamation of the harbour.

One of the most disputed points between officials and the society's representatives was whether it was essential to use sea water for pumping stations.

The society argued that by using fresh water for cooling, the government could relocate the pumping stations, reduce the number of stations needed and also reduce reclamation.

But officials stressed that fresh water was scarce in Hong Kong and the entire Pearl River Delta and its use for cooling was unsustainable.

The society's campaign manager, Angus Ho Hon-wai, said: "We're very disappointed by the board's decision.

"We're not convinced the current reclamation is already a minimum [level] and we questioned the effectiveness of the so-called actions to ensure good design."

The society also disputed the board's criticism that part of their application related to the Wan Chai reclamation review. "The society is aware that this specific area has never been consulted on during the Wan Chai review. This reflects the government's planning process is incomplete and poorly organised."

3. Last nail is driven in for Wedding Card St
CHLOE LAI, SCMP 6 August 2005

Yesterday saw the beginning of the end for campaigners fighting to save Wedding Card Street from destruction.

The Lands Department gazetted the long-anticipated resumption order for land in Lee Tung Street, Wan Chai - allowing it to take over properties from unwilling owners if they do not agree to sell to the Urban Renewal Authority within three months.

Those refusing to surrender their properties after that date will be evicted.

Residents are understood to be planning to take their case to the Town Planning Appeal Board in a last-ditch effort to save the street, known for its 20-plus wedding card printers.

That effort looks doomed, however, since the board normally takes about a year to hear an appeal.

A spokeswoman for the Housing, Planning and Lands Bureau said an appeal to the board would not delay land resumption.

"The resumption will not be jeopardised by the appeal, if any," she said.

Owners can continue negotiating with the authority until the land is resumed.

Many of the shops in Lee Tung Street selling wedding cards and gifts have already moved to a nearby shopping centre and many residents have moved out since the authority started buying properties for redevelopment early last year.

It now owns more than 80 per cent, but 148 owners are still holding out. The redeveloped street will feature shops and flats.

Repeated attempts to save the street and preserve some of the old buildings have failed.

The latest defeat came two weeks ago when the Town Planning Board rejected a counter-proposal by 20 residents and shop owners for its redevelopment.

Their earlier proposal to preserve the street was rejected in March, with the board questioning its feasibility given how many of the properties the authority had already bought.

Still, they demanded the authority work out an acceptable redevelopment plan with those affected.

Kam Fok Lai-ching, a representative of the group, was disturbed the government had ignored their repeated calls to be exempted from the land resumption.

"We don't dispute land resumption because we know tenants will not get rehousing if there is no land resumption.

"But we have told the government we will fight on and they should not include us."

Mrs Kam said they had not ruled out challenging the land resumption in court.

4. Tuen Mun station project in demand
FOSTER WONG, SCMP 6 August 2005

Developers frustrated by a paucity of government land sales this year have expressed strong interest in the Tuen Mun Station residential development project on the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corp's (KCRC) West Rail line.

Ten developers had submitted expressions of interest for the 2000-unit mass residential project worth an estimated $4.7 billion, the railway operator said yesterday.

Leading developers including Sun Hung Kai Properties, Cheung Kong (Holdings), Henderson Land Development, Wheelock Properties and New World Development all showed interest, according to a statement.

The other developers are Kerry Properties, Sino Land, K Wah International, Hung Lung Properties and a consortium led by Kowloon Development.

"Developers have been hungering for land for a long time, especially as the government's modified land application list system has still failed to accelerate land sales," said Alvin Lam Tsz-pun, an associate director at Midland Surveyors.

"Although Tuen Mun is considered a rather remote district, business potential for a mass residential project above a railway station is still appealing."

Under the original application-list system, a site is put up for auction only after a developer undertakes to submit a bid that meets an undisclosed minimum reserve price set by the government.

In a move to speed up land sales, the government modified the system in June so that developers need bid only 80 per cent of the reserve price to trigger an auction.

Nonetheless, no developers have met the modified requirement thus far.

"Developers can usually better manage the timing of their land bank replenishments through tenders than through the land application-list system," said Wheelock Properties sales and marketing director Ricky Wong Kwong-yiu.

The Tuen Mun Station project is on a 2.7-hectare site. It will include seven residential towers, with 1,924 flats, on a podium with retail shops and community facilities.

KCRC said it would invite shortlisted developers to submit tenders for the project late next month and award the project by the end of the year.

Building will begin next year, and will be completed in two phases by 2012, it said.

The investment cost is estimated at $4.7 billion, or $3,000 per square foot, according to Midland Realty. Its estimate assumes a $2.82 billion land premium for the government and $1.88 billion in construction costs.

This means the developer would have to sell the project at about $3,600 per square foot to cover its costs and achieve a 20 per cent profit margin.

Second-hand flats in the district sell at $2,000 to $2,500 per square foot.