Mansion owner expected to reveal plans for government land, green belt within 2 weeks

The owner of the damaged King Yin Lei mansion is expected to reveal plans within two weeks to develop the adjoining government land and green belt, after a proposal to preserve the building and garden was deferred by the Town Planning Board yesterday.

The owner, who remains anonymous, applied on December 4 to change the Stubbs Road site and a piece of government land to the west - which is a green belt zone - for use in residential development with the historical building preserved.

The board suspended the application temporarily pending further information to be submitted by the owner. It will assess the application in three months after a complete application is made.

In a separate proposal, the Conservancy Association had suggested preserving the mansion and garden while allowing the remaining 8,000sq-ft land to be developed.

Association chairwoman Betty Ho Siu-fong said their idea would enable the owner to build a two- to three-storey building while causing minimal disturbance to the mansion.

In the meeting yesterday, board member Greg Wong Chak-yan said the only way to preserve the mansion in its original place was to declare it a monument because the board had no power to stop the owner from demolishing it.

'The board can only stop people from building a new development,' Mr Wong said. 'If you have the intention to protect the historical building, you should lobby for making it a monument.'