The developers of Hunghom Peninsula decided not to
demolish the seven brand new buildings on 10 December 2004. The
Conservancy Association welcomed the developer’s move.
However, some critics said opposing the demolition of Hunghom
Peninsula violated the freedom of contract and rule of law. We could
not agree more. CA always respects the rule of law, but we were of
the view that the people of Hong Kong stood up and said no to the
developers simply reflected the negligence of officials and the
courage of the Hong Kong people to shoulder their social
responsibilities.
The developers said in their press release that they “do not want to
precipitate an assault on private property rights and freedom of
contract, as this would impair the business environment in a free
economy.” This saying was tantamount to an insult to the people who
spoke up and the various green groups, civil societies and religious
group that opposed the demolition. As a matter of fact, CA
understood that the demolition could not be stopped by any legal
means, but it was another matter as regard to “redeveloping” the
estates; we had urged the people of Hong Kong to support as well as
put pressure on the Administration to stop the redevelopment by
means of land premium and master layout plan.
The Conservancy Association had also staged a petition on 8 December
2004 outside Legco Building to urge the legislators to oppose the
redevelopment of Honghom Peninsula.
Proposed Penjing and Bonsai Arboretum at Ma Hang
Headland, Stanley
The
Conservancy Association received a complaint in April 2004
from the Kwan Yin Temple that the Housing Department was
going to construct the car park of the arboretum right in
front of the temple's entrance and lots of trees would be
cut down. CA then knew that a large arboretum would be built
and the project involved large scale tree felling, but the
exact number could not be known till we received the tree
felling schedule from Town Planning through due process in
August . According to the document, 542 out of 1047 trees on
the headland were to be felled.
CA
still wanted to negotiate with the concerned government de
and the developer, but to no avail. A local newspaper broke
the story on 4 October but lacked details such as the number
of trees to be cut down. CA held a press tour on the very
same day and publicize the incident.
A press statement by the Housing Department said that the
trees on the headland have low ecological value, but Leung
Chin-man, Director of Housing, said he would review the
project.
Representatives of CA and Leung Chin-man met on 6 October at
HA Headquarters. Mr Leung promised that he would adopt an
"all open" attitude towards reviewing the project; a
tripartite working group involving the HA, CA and the
developer would be established and provide more information
on how the project came about.
Hotel Development in Wan Chai South
Wan
Chai District is one of earliest developed urban area and
nostalgic atmosphere can be felt by both the local people
and tourists. The the proposed Mega Tower Hotel site is
right in the heart of the famous "Old Wan Chai" : the
vegetation on the slopes, the Chinese style low rise
buildings and relatively spacious configuration of the
buildings all contribute to the unique characteristics of
this area. The woodland on the government slope acts as a
buffer to the dense traffic on Queen's Road East.
The Position of CA
The Conservancy Association support development only and
only if it is sustainable. We do not oppose Hopewell to
construct the hotel on their own land. However, a
substantial portion of the latest proposed is government
land. The public definitely have a say in how this piece of
land should be used. As for the scale of the development, it
is simply too big for Kennedy Road.
The Problem of Mega Tower Hotel Project
The
"wall effect" created by the two 60-storey-plus block of the
hotel is a major concern. The hotel, with 2280 rooms, will
generated huge additional demand on traffic which will not
only affect the already congested Kennedy Road, but the
wider Central and Wan Chai area as well.
Stringent building heights are imposed in the adjoining
Mid-Levels East Outline Zoning Plan to ensure that public
views, particularly from Bowen Road and Wan Chai Gap, can
be preserved. We cannot see why the buildings right across
Kenney Road would not be subject to suitable control.
Hundreds of trees will be cut down because of the
project. Although the developer is willing to plan new ones, many of them are in covered gardens and swimming
pools. This cavalier attitude towards tree cutting should
not be encouraged. The so called "open spaces" provided by
the project are mainly covered gardens. Beautiful as they
are painted by illustrators, the gardens are in fact no
different from those under flyovers.
CA's Suggestions
The
Conservancy Association suggests to re zone all government
land within the site into Green Belt. There are already two
large patches of land owned by Hopewell within the site
which are more than enough for hotel development. The scale
of the Hotel will inevitably be reduced, but it is one which
balance the factors of environment, society and economy.
The
Conservancy Association received a complaint in April 2004
from the Kwan Yin Temple that the Housing Department was
going to construct the car park of the arboretum right in
front of the temple's entrance and lots of trees would be
cut down. CA then knew that a large arboretum would be built
and the project involved large scale tree felling, but the
exact number could not be known till we received the tree
felling schedule from Town Planning through due process in
August . According to the document, 542 out of 1047 trees on
the headland were to be felled.
CA
still wanted to negotiate with the concerned government de
and the developer, but to no avail. A local newspaper broke
the story on 4 October but lacked details such as the number
of trees to be cut down. CA held a press tour on the very
same day and publicize the incident.
Wan
Chai District is one of earliest developed urban area and
nostalgic atmosphere can be felt by both the local people
and tourists. The the proposed Mega Tower Hotel site is
right in the heart of the famous "Old Wan Chai" : the
vegetation on the slopes, the Chinese style low rise
buildings and relatively spacious configuration of the
buildings all contribute to the unique characteristics of
this area. The woodland on the government slope acts as a
buffer to the dense traffic on Queen's Road East. 
The
"wall effect" created by the two 60-storey-plus block of the
hotel is a major concern. The hotel, with 2280 rooms, will
generated huge additional demand on traffic which will not
only affect the already congested Kennedy Road, but the
wider Central and Wan Chai area as well. 
The
Conservancy Association suggests to re zone all government
land within the site into Green Belt. There are already two
large patches of land owned by Hopewell within the site
which are more than enough for hotel development. The scale
of the Hotel will inevitably be reduced, but it is one which
balance the factors of environment, society and economy.
