TAKING ISSUE: HISTORY AND PAST SUCCESSES OF THE SOCIETY FOR PROTECTION OF THE HARBOUR
1995 November: Society formed to oppose further harbour reclamation with Winston Chu Ka-sun as chairman, Christine Loh as deputy chairwoman and Jennifer Chow as honorary secretary
1996 January: Conducted 'Save Our Harbour' Campaign, involving the Hong Kong public. Eventually supported by 170,000 signatures
May: Successfully opposed the government's proposal to reclaim 190 hectares (20.5 million square feet) of Green Island
June: Presented Protection of the Harbour Bill to the Legislative Council as a Private Members' Bill
December: Presented a Petition to the Governor-in-Council Chris Patten supported by 148,041 signatures
1997 April: Commissioned a survey by Dr Robert Chung of the Social Sciences Research Centre of The University of Hong Kong to conduct an opinion survey on harbour reclamation. It found that over 95 per cent of Hong Kong people were opposed to further reclamation
June: Secured the enactment of the Protection of the Harbour Ordinance
November: Successfully persuaded the government through the then Secretary for Planning to announce a government policy 'that the Government would not carry out any reclamation unless it is absolutely necessary'
1998 January: Successfully opposed the government's proposal to reclaim the whole of Kowloon Bay involving 340 hectares (36.5 million square feet)
May: Successfully opposed government's proposal to reclaim 32 hectares (3.5 million square feet) of the Central Waterfront at Tamar
1999 October: Successfully persuaded the Chief Executive to promise in his 1999 Policy Address to scale back the reclamation plan for the harbour and to commit to the Principle of Sustainable Development
October: Secured a promise by the Chief Executive in a public radio conversation with the society's chairman 'that his government will try to reduce reclamation to an absolute minimum'
December: Successfully opposed the application of a large Hong Kong developer to reclaim a part of North Point waterfront for a cruise centre
2000 March: Successfully persuaded the Town Planning Board to include in its Vision Statement for Victoria Harbour: 'The harbour is to be protected and preserved as a special public asset and a natural heritage of the people of Hong Kong. Reclamation in the harbour should only be carried out to meet essential community needs and public aspirations'
2001 June: Successfully persuaded the government not to proceed with an amended scheme to reclaim 79 hectares (8.5 million square feet) of Western District waterfront
2002-2003: Successfully opposed government proposal to reclaim 26 hectares (2.9 million square feet) of the Wan Chai waterfront by succeeding in an application for judicial review against the Town Planning Board
