Q Should the Stubbs Road mansion be declared a monument?
The mansion at 45 Stubbs Road is unique in both architectural and historical terms. How ironic that just when the Home Affairs Bureau (HAB) is undertaking public consultation on heritage conservation that this magnificent private building and the public Wan Chai market are both under threat.
The Hong Kong Institute of Planners has told the bureau that its process is too slow and that too many significant places and buildings will be lost while it struggles to develop a policy. How true that is proving.
In November 2001, I presented the Town Planning Board (TPB) with a proposal to give heritage zoning to special private buildings and used 45 Stubbs Road as an example. The intention was to respect private ownership rights but to indicate to all that this building was of community importance and that this judgment must be considered before demolition would be approved.
This was to encourage innovative approaches by the private sector to retain heritage buildings by careful redevelopment or expansion under the approval of the TPB.
Amazingly the Antiquities and Monuments Office (AMO) had no record of this building. It had not been assessed or graded, or considered by the Antiquities and Monuments Board. The TPB therefore felt that as the building was neither a declared monument, nor a graded historical building, it could not rezone it for preservation at that time.
The TPB members recognised the heritage value of the building, and that resources outside the AMO should be used to preserve buildings. They resolved that pressure needed to be put on HAB. When AMO had confirmed the grading of the building the TPB would consider an appropriate preservation zoning.