1  Housing project 'poses threat to butterfly haven' Greens concerned over proposal for Tai Po complex
Joyce Ng, SCMP 4 August 2008

The Tai Po site, with butterfly zone in the foreground.  Photo: Sam Tsang  Source: SCMP

An artist’s view of the project, with the butterfly zone in the foreground. Photo: Sam Tsang Source: SCMP

A proposed residential development of eight blocks and more than 200 houses only 50 metres from a butterfly haven in Tai Po is likely to threaten the insects, and the Town Planning Board should look at the plan with care, environmentalists say.

The site of the project, proposed by Cheung Kong (Holdings), covers 18.37 hectares and lies south of the Fung Yuen Valley, a government listed "site of special scientific interest" because of its rare butterflies.

Cheung Kong denies the claims, saying mitigation measures will be implemented and the company has been co-operating with the green group managing the butterfly zone to set up a butterfly reserve on its own agricultural lots in the area.

A spokesman also said the company had been making efforts over the past decades to clear a building site, which was once a blackspot used for car wrecking and dumping waste.

A master layout plan was approved by the Town Planning Board in 2004, but the developer submitted a drastically revised layout plan last month, adding 212 individual houses, while reducing the number of blocks from 12 to eight, with a maximum of 28 storeys.

Cheung Kong says the project would introduce an "environmentally responsible lifestyle sustained by design" such as "green" roofs, the use of solar energy, bicycle trails and hobby farming.

In its planning statement submitted to the Town Planning Board, the developer said constraints such as irregular site configuration and the presence of graves and tree clumps and the buffer zone meant a low-rise development was not possible and tall blocks would need to be retained.

It proposed planting trees, shrubs and two kinds of nectar plants in the buffer zone. This, along with weed management, would minimise disturbance to the butterfly zone.

But few details have emerged on how the revised layout would affect the environment. The board is expected to discuss the amended plan next month.

The layout change and the narrow buffer zone have triggered worries among environmentalists.

"An addition of so many houses means the green area will shrink and more site area will be covered by concrete," Hong Kong Entomological Society chairman Yiu Vor said.

The presence of concrete would change the micro-climate for butterflies, raising summer temperatures and diminishing wind flow, which would have implications for the insects' proliferation, he said.

Mr Yiu was also worried about the narrowness of the buffer zone between the sensitive site and the blocks. "Now that the layout of buildings has drastically changed, should the same 50 metres distance be allowed?"

He said the new project should go to the Environmental Protection  Department again, and the Town Planning Board should reconsider the revised project with care.

The Fung Yuen site, a forested ravine covering 42.7 hectares, supports rare plants and is a breeding ground for rare butterflies such as the white dragontail, common birdwing, forget-me-not and dark brown ace. The site has recorded 114 of the 230 butterfly species found in Hong Kong. A small private plot inside the area has been a pilot site for the government's new nature conservation policy.

Yau Wing-kwong, chairman of the Tai Po Environmental Association - responsible for managing the pilot site - also expressed concern about the possible number of houses, and the narrowness of the buffer zone. "I wonder what the developers will do to the buffer zone. Will they just leave it abandoned? Will they use chemicals, affecting the butterflies?" He will meet the developers to find out more details this month.