Back board decision on Henderson properties, court asked
A court was urged yesterday not to overturn a decision by the Town Planning Board, because, its counsel said, the board's expertise meant it was likely to be right more often than the court.
The call came at the end of a hearing in which property giant Henderson Land was challenging the board's decision to leave some of its properties as part of an urban renewal project in the SoHo area of Central.
John Griffith SC likened the board to a 'master of its own house', saying it had made a reasonable decision based on its expertise in planning matters.
He urged Madam Justice Carlye Chu Fun-ling not to overrule the decision because the board tended to get it right more often than the court.
When the three-day hearing ended, Madam Justice Chu said she would hand down a judgment in due course.
Earlier, Henderson counsel Benjamin Yu SC said it was illogical for the board to cite the possibility of a joint venture between a developer and the Urban Redevelopment Authority as a reason for refusing to exclude the properties.
He said that the Town Planning Board had taken a 'quantum leap' in drawing its conclusion that the interest of Henderson Land in the SoHo site may therefore not be adversely affected.
Two Henderson affiliates - Capital Rich Development and Well Unicorn Development - had launched a judicial review of the board's decision last March to approve the authority's redevelopment scheme for the SoHo area, surrounding Staunton Street and Wing Lee Street.
The court heard that Henderson had been acquiring properties along Chung Wo Lane, part of the development area, since 1998 and had obtained various permits for developments of its own, including a 29-storey residential tower.
Its properties represented 19 per cent of the 4,640 sq ft area in the authority's plan.
The area includes 45 dilapidated buildings up to 40 years old, which the authority wants to demolish to build 520 residential units and retail space, as well as a Sun Yat-sen Memorial Square.
Mr Yu said although the board decided that there was a possibility for a joint venture between the authority and a private developer, it had never asked the authority in previous hearings about its business plan for the SoHo redevelopment.
