A top conservation adviser says the west wing of the government's former headquarters in Central should not be sold off for redevelopment but could be converted into grade-A offices for private use.
Bernard Chan, chairman of the Antiquities Advisory Board, set out his views on controversial plans to redevelop the building for the first time yesterday, a month before the board meets to decide on the heritage rating for the entire complex.
The board's decision will be based on the recommendations of a panel of heritage experts, which is understood to have concluded that the entire complex, including the west wing as well as the older east and central wings, should be given a grade-one historic rating, the highest.
Chan said the government had told him experts were still studying the public's views on the complex.
'If the government doesn't retain the ownership [of the west wing], it will have its connection to Government Hill severed, which I cannot agree with,' Chan said. 'I've already told the government that leaving the site to a developer's hand will trigger great public opposition.'
Chan says he accepts the government's argument that the city needs more grade-A office buildings 'but turning it [the west wing] into grade-A offices for the use of non-government organisations also looks acceptable to me.' He said some alterations to the building, built in 1959, would be acceptable.