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| 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
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
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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.