Consultation rejects trade zone near Lok Ma Chau
Green groups say that the Pearl River Delta has seen enough development
The plan to build a trade and industrial zone near the Lok Ma Chau border has suffered a major setback with most respondents to a government consultation exercise opposing the project.
Green groups and professional bodies responded to 'Hong Kong 2030 - Planning Vision and Strategy' by saying the cross-border project should be suspended, according to Deputy Director of Planning Ava Ng Tse Suk-ying.
The groups said Hong Kong should try to preserve its green belt and avoid further expansion into untouched areas, since most parts of the Pearl River Delta have been under massive development. They said Hong Kong's future developments should continue to be centralised in existing urban areas.
Mrs Ng said most respondents did not favour the cross-border zone plan, which was last year raised by business tycoon Li Ka-shing in Beijing. In the master plan, the government suggested turning the 100-hectare site into a trade exhibition area.
The respondents said the development cost of the site would be very high since it was contaminated by toxic sludge, Mrs Ng said.
'Some respondents supported the plan to develop the area. But they are divided on what should be built there. Some opposed turning the site into an expo centre and some were against making it an industrial zone.'
'They also pointed [out] that most parts of Shenzhen had been developed,' she said. 'The groups stressed that the border area should be kept untouched, leaving it as a buffer zone between two metro areas.'
The government's consultation exercise on the master plan, which maps out the city's development in the next three decades, will end on Wednesday.
The Planning Department has so far received 100 written submissions, conducted four focus group meetings, organised two forums, and met all 18 district councils.
To accommodate the need for housing and commercial land, the master plan suggested two options for development - one based on decentralisation, the other on centralisation.
Under the centralisation option, no new towns in the New Territories would be required before 2020, with five new towns needed after that. Most land needs would be met by urban renewal and the Southeast Kowloon development.
The decentralisation option, however, would speed up new town development in Hung Shui Kiu, Kwu Tung and Fanling before 2020, while surrounding areas would be developed beyond 2020. But each of the new towns would house only about 100,000 people.
Mrs Ng said: '[Respondents] very much favoured the centralised option.'
