Lychee garden and stables built partly on Crown land without permission
A PRIVATE lychee garden has been set up partly inside a country park, even though permission has not been granted by the Government.
The Tai Tong Lychee Valley, near Yuen Long, features a horse-riding stable, fishing pond, and a lychee and fruit garden where people are charged a $20 admission fee for sight-seeing.
But the Agriculture and Fisheries Department, which manages country parks, and the Yuen Long District Lands Office said permission had not been given for the development.
The land status of the development is complicated because part of it is inside Tai Lam Country Park, part on leased land and part on private land. But in any case, permission was not sought.
An Agriculture and Fisheries spokesman said they had informed the Lands Office about the illegal use of Crown land and change of land use. The horse-riding stable used to be a chicken farm.
District Lands Officer Frank Phillips said they had written to the owners telling them they did not have permission for the activities outside the country park, such as the stable.
His office will investigate whether fees are being charged to enter the country park, or just private land that sits within the park, and a meeting will be held with the Planning Department, Geotechnical Control Office and the Buildings Ordinance Office to discuss the case.
But it is up to the Agriculture and Fisheries Department to act over illegal use of the country park.
The spokesman said they had not received an application for the farm but she could not confirm whether any action was being considered against the garden.
The World Wide Fund for Nature's conservation officer, Ken Chu Wing-hing, said the Agriculture and Fisheries Department should be responsible for preventing unauthorised developments in country parks.
''It's ridiculous [to suggest otherwise],'' he said. ''We told them about it one or two years ago. I don't know why they let the villagers cause so much disturbance to that area.'' Mr Chu said the project was of concern not only because it was in a country park, but because it affected a proposed Site of Special Scientific Interest.
A one-kilometre stretch of stream at Tai Tong is an important area for dragonflies, including one species new to science called the Paragomphus and other species with habitats in Hong Kong under threat.
The Tai Tong Lychee Valley is owned by Leung San-fat and his brother, and was opened in June.
Mr Leung yesterday maintained he did not need permission to convert the chicken farm into a stable.
He said he had a registration for his farm and therefore no special permission should be required for the garden.
Mr Phillips said a plantation of lychee and other fruit trees had been there for a number of years and was used by the residents of Tai Tong Village before it was upgraded and converted to commercial use.
