Nimbyism reflects government failure to engage communities

Bernard Chan ("Lots of land for housing, just 'not in my backyard'", September 20) accuses residents of selfishness in opposing the construction of columbariums. He fails to recognise that Nimbyism often expresses well-researched environmental and public safety concerns overlooked by bureaucrats.

One example is our year-long battle over the scale of a new columbarium by the Hong Kong Chinese Christian Churches Union (HKCCCU) at its Victoria Road cemetery.

The 10-storey structure with 36,000 new burial niches is at variance with the government's promise that columbariums would not be constructed close to residential buildings. Our residents have been living with the existing cemetery and three-storey columbarium for decades and are not in principle opposed to a new columbarium, but want it reduced in size in line with local circumstances.

The 60 per cent increase in burial spaces and expected influx of 144,000 to 432,000 extra visitors during festivals is too much for the local infrastructure. Victoria Road, critical for public transport, fire, ambulance and safety services, is blocked with traffic during the Ching Ming and Chung Yeung festivals, with grave-sweepers moving along footpaths that are in some places little more than 30cm wide.

We fear a repeat of the 1993 Lan Kwai Fong disaster if measures are not taken to reduce the number of new burial spaces and visitor traffic. Even outside festival times, visitors and funeral vehicles park on footpaths, forcing families with strollers and wheelchair users onto the road.

The HKCCCU refuses to engage with local residents. The Planning Department agrees the situation is unsatisfactory. The Buildings Department has issued permits for construction saying it is acting within the provisions of the Buildings Ordinance. The director of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, the authority responsible for health and safety at cemeteries, has yet to order changes to the design of the proposed columbarium and footpaths.

The future problem of traffic and crowd control is left to the police, who will have to close part of Victoria Road. The Transport Department, which initially had no objections to the columbarium, is unable to explain how public transport can operate with Victoria Road closed, or how the lack of adequate footpaths will be solved.

Nimbyism, Mr Chan, is only a problem when the government is unable to respond coherently to local residents' justified concerns and fails to engage with the communities it is supposed to serve.

Peter Cunich, chairman, Pok Fu Lam Residents' Alliance