Wetland homes get 'second chance'
Officials vowed builders' fourth deferral would be their last; now government secures new delay
A controversial proposal for a housing development on wetland in Yuen Long will get "a second chance" to be heard by town-planning advisers after they deferred a decision on whether to approve the project.
The scheme at Fung Lok Wai received an unusual deferral from the Town Planning Board to hold off its decision for two more months, until October, so that government bodies have time to study information submitted by the developer at the last moment.
The move extends the validity of Cheung Kong subsidiary Mutual Luck's application to build 19 residential towers and a wetland reserve on the 80-hectare wetland site.
This time, the deferral was requested by the Planning Department instead of the developer, which had previously sought four deferrals, the last of which was granted in April and expired on August 2.
The board had expressed its dismay over the repeated deferrals that it had granted the developer - lasting seven months in all - and ruled there should be no further deferral.
Roy Tam Hoi-pong, president of environmental group Green Sense, was unaware of the latest turn of events that happened last Friday.
He urged the board to explain its decision clearly, saying there was no apparent reason the developer should be given a second chance.