The top town planner is opening the way for village house construction in an ecologically sensitive area as a 'political decision' to please powerful villagers, green groups say.
The two-kilometre-long Lin Ma Hang stream runs beside a village of the same name in the eastern end of the closed border area, which is due to reopen soon. The biologically rich stream was designated a site of special scientific interest in 2007.
The Town Planning Board planned to create a 20-metre-wide buffer area on both sides of the stream and to zone it as a conservation area.
But that angered the few villagers who still live there, as well as many former residents who said they planned to return when the border zone reopened. Conservation zoning would make it impossible for them to exercise their right to build homes under the small-house policy.
That plan was abruptly shelved when the Town Planning Board met on September 8 to discuss the proposal, which was still being drafted. Chairman Thomas Chow Tat-ming announced that the proposed zoning was being changed from conservation to green belt, to make it easier for villagers to exercise their right to build houses. Chow is also the permanent secretary for development.
The board endorsed the change for the village, which had 80 residents when officials made a count in 2006. Village leaders say up to 900 men will become eligible to build small houses in 10 years, and an additional 100 old village houses must be rebuilt.