More than 1,000 people, including from overseas, have signed a petition to protest against a HK$629 million Tai O redevelopment project, saying the plan will destroy the natural scenery of the fishing village.
One petitioner, Avis Ngan, said: 'Money for preservation should be used to reinforce what is already there in terms of structures and traditional industries, rather than spent on the construction of an additional facade, parks and ponds.'
The government unveiled the detailed redevelopment project in a public forum last month.
It proposed building a Tai O Road entrance square, a theme fountain with sculptures, stone carving, a shorefront wooden walkway, a shorefront plaza, a Chinese-style park, a water lily pond, a shopping walk and a helicopter landing pad. The project is expected to start in 2011 and be completed by mid-2016.
Tai O, the fishing village at the western tip of Lantau with about 3,400 residents, is known as the 'Venice of Hong Kong'.
Resident Wong Wai-king, who has lived in the village for 40 years, launched an online signature campaign on September 29 with 1,118 signatures collected by yesterday. 'We expect to collect more than 3,000 signatures after two months.'