1 Advisers voice fears over Mai Po project Cheung Kong plan sparks health concerns
Joshua But, SCMP 19 September 2008
Public health and the impact on the landscape are among the concerns of a government advisory body over a plan by Cheung Kong (Holdings) to build homes around fish ponds and marshes near one of the city's most sensitive wildlife spots.
Plans for the Fung Lok Wai project in Yuen Long call for the development of only 5 per cent of the 80-hectare site near Mai Po Nature Reserve, famed for its bird life. The remaining area will be turned into a wetland nature reserve by the developer to be run by an independent body.
But critics say the planned blocks are five or six times the height of the usual three-storey New Territories houses and worry about possible risks in an avian flu outbreak.
An environmental impact assessment report, released for public comment last month, was seen as helping the property developer to win support from sceptics about the feasibility of its plans.
The report came under discussion yesterday by a subcommittee of the Advisory Council on the Environment, which will advise the director of environmental protection on whether the project should go ahead.
Subcommittee member Edwin Lau Che-feng said the project was too close to the birds' habitat. "The government as a precautionary measure ordered closure of the Mai Po reserve during the bird flu outbreak last year," he said. "Is the government prepared to evacuate the residents in the project if bird flu hits the city?"
Mr Lau, also director of green group Friends of the Earth, said the project was "incompatible" with the landscape and scenery of the habitat.
Subcommittee chairman Ng Cho-nam said he would report members' advice to the council at a meeting scheduled next month and urged the government to monitor the management and financial support of the planned wetland nature reserve.
The developer has pledged to set up a non-profit foundation to oversee the reserve, which would be managed by professionals.
Mutual Luck Investment, a subsidiary of Cheung Kong, said yesterday it was "committed to the financial requirements of the setting up and the operation of the wetland nature reserve". A sum of HK$4 million would be injected every year for the operation of the reserve before the foundation was established, which would take about three years.
"WWF Hong Kong will participate and monitor the design, construction and operation of the reserve and will train up staff for the future management," the company said.
Janet Lee Ka-wai, conservation officer of WWF's Mai Po projects, said WWF planned to revive the abandoned fish ponds in the area and fishermen would be employed to resurrect the old practices.
Grace Woo Chia-ching, executive director of Cheung Kong Holdings, said she was confident the development would be completed in 2016.
Rich Valley has also proposed building 21 houses and a clubhouse in the wetland buffer area near Mai Po. That plan is due to be discussed by the Town Planning Board today.
2 HK$9.6 billion earmarked for sixth border crossing project
Olga Wong and Joyce Ng, SCMP 19 September 2008
The government has decided to spend HK$9.6 billion to build the city's sixth border crossing, in the eastern New Territories, the development chief said after meeting her Shenzhen counterpart.
After years of talks about the new crossing, Secretary for Development Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor finally announced the decision yesterday.
A new 10km trunk road linking the new crossing with the Tolo Highway will improve accessibility to new development areas in Ping Che and Ta Kwu Ling.
The checkpoint and the development areas are to be in use by 2018.
Hong Kong would gain at least HK$14 billion in economic benefits from the new crossing, according to Permanent Secretary for Development Raymond Young Lap-moon. That was a conservative estimate because it excluded intangible benefits such as increased job opportunities and property prices in new development areas, he said.
But the project would involve the relocation of one village in Heung Yuen Wai, involving payment of compensation, which could be a stumbling block to the cross-border project.
Dismissing fears that the new crossing would be underused, Mrs Lam said the project had strategic importance for Hong Kong.
"The new border's design will be people-oriented," she said, referring to the short walk across the border on a 100-metre bridge connecting Liangtang on the Shenzhen side and Heung Yuen Wai in Hong Kong. That is slightly shorter than at the two checkpoints in the Western Corridor.
The new crossing is expected to have 20,600 vehicular trips and 30,700 passenger trips a day by 2030.
It will handle traffic from Hong Kong to eastern Guangdong, Fujian and Jianxi provinces. It will also ease traffic at the Man Kam To and Sha Tau Kok border crossings.
The government will seek funding approval from the Legislative Council by the end of the year and start a detailed engineering study next year.
Surveyor Raymond Chan Yuk-ming said the control point could boost property prices in the area.
3 Planners approve project despite objections
Ng Kang-chung, SCMP 19 September 2008
A controversial luxury residential project bordering the Mai Po nature reserve in Yuen Long has secured the initial go-ahead from government planners.
The Planning Department said it had no objection to the application, despite public concerns about possible harm to the natural habitat of birds.
At the centre of the debate is a proposed low-rise residential development plan by Henderson Land, which contains about 350 units of two- to four-storey houses.
The site is now used for open storage for containers and truck parking. There are also grassland, freshwater marshes and drainage ditches. The site abuts Wo Shang Wai village, and Palm Springs and Royal Palms - both Sun Hung Kai Properties projects.
Some 4.7 hectares of wetland habitat could be lost, but Henderson Land proposed creating a wetland restoration area to compensate.
Of the 431 submissions received during the public consultation in May, 394 opposed the project. Only 37 supported it.
4 Drainage improvement in Tsuen Wan
Hong Kong Government, 19 September 2008
The Government intends to provide a protective layer for the outlet of a proposed drainage tunnel outfall by dredging the existing foreshore and sea-bed and laying precast concrete units and/or armour rock at Yau Kom Tau, Tsuen Wan, to protect the foreshore and sea-bed from erosion and scouring by stormwater discharged through the drainage tunnel.
The work, which will affect an area of approximately 3600 square metres of foreshore and sea-bed, is scheduled to begin in June 2009 and to be completed by September 2011.
The extent of the area affected is described in a notice published in the Government Gazette today (September 19).
The notice together with its related plan can be seen on notice boards posted near the site. The plan can also be seen at the Lands Department Survey and Mapping Office, 23rd floor, North Point Government Offices, 333 Java Road, North Point, and at the Tsuen Wan District Office, 1st floor, Tsuen Wan Multi-storey Carpark Building, 174-208 Castle Peak Road, Tsuen Wan.
Any person who has an interest, right or easement in or over the foreshore and sea-bed involved may submit a written objection to the Director of Lands, 20th floor, North Point Government Offices, 333 Java Road, North Point, by November 19.
