The government has infuriated conservationists by announcing that the west wing of its former headquarters will be bulldozed - and basing its decision on advice from a panel of experts who say the building should be saved.
The Development Bureau said last night that an expert panel under the Antiques Advisory Board concluded that the west wing was of lower architectural and historical merit than the older central and east wings at Government Hill, which will be retained for use by the Department of Justice. It will therefore make way for grade-A office buildings.
But a member of the panel said it had agreed that the whole Government Hill site should be given the highest conservation rating.
The panel has yet to submit its report, but a spokeswoman for the bureau said last night that its verdict on the merits of the west wing was in line with that of British conservation architects Purcell Miller Tritton, who studied the site in 2009 and concluded that the west wing should go.
'There is thus no intention to change the government's plan to preserve the higher-value main and east wings, while demolishing the lower-value west wing for redevelopment,' the spokeswoman said. The government hoped to announce details of 'the way forward' this month, she said.
But Professor Siu Kwok-kin, a member of the expert group, said yesterday the group gave the west wing a lower rating than the east and main wings but that the old headquarters should be treated as a single entity which would be rated as a grade-one historic building. It intends to submit a report to the Antiquities Advisory Board before a grade is given at a meeting expected on June 14.