Hunghom Peninsula set to get green name
Hunghom Peninsula, the controversial waterfront property recently saved from demolition, will be given a new name - possibly with an environmental theme.
After a public outcry about the planned demolition of the never-occupied estate - and the negative message it would convey about environmental protection - one of its owners said it was imperative to give the estate a new identity before putting it on sale later this year.
'After all the controversy, it has to be renamed,' said Stewart Leung Chi-kin, executive director of New World Development.
Mr Leung had no idea what the seven-block estate would be called, but agreed a name with an environmental theme would be good.
He said permission would be sought soon to renovate the apartments, with the work to take six to eight months. He said the 2,000 flats could be on sale by the end of the year.
The estate was built for the Home Ownership Scheme. But it was sold back to the developer last year after the government suspended the subsidised flats scheme amid the property market slump.
Developers New World and Sun Hung Kai Properties planned to knock down the blocks for redevelopment, but reversed their decision after a public outcry and the threat of an investigation by lawmakers.
Danny Yung Ning-tsun, artistic director of the cultural collective group, Zuni Icosahedron, said a name change would not erase people's memories of the saga.
'If they really want to give it a new name, they had better call it East Kowloon cultural district because they preserved the estate so Sun Hung Kai could gain credit for its West Kowloon cultural district bid,' he said.
