Doubts over ecological value of alternative Sai Kung housing site

Environmentalists are at odds over the ecological value of a fung shui woodland put forward as an alternative site for almost 100 village houses proposed in Sai Kung's scenic Hoi Ha area.

The government plans to allocate 2.5 hectares in the centre of the 8.45-hectare enclave - between Sai Kung West Country Park and the Hoi Ha Wan Marine Park - for the houses.

But environmental consultant Paul Hodgson argues in a submission on behalf of the Professional Commons that the entire Hoi Ha area be declared country park and the houses moved to the fung shui woodland to the south.

Hodgson, a member of the Hoi Ha Action Group, which opposes development of the area, said the woodland contained neither protected nor endangered flora and was just abandoned farmland.

But Nicola Newbery, chairwoman of Friends of Hoi Ha, said the woodland was in fact of high conservation value.

She cited a survey by the Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden last September, which found "rich species composition made up almost exclusively by native species". Another ecological survey commissioned by the group in November found similar results in which "89 species were identified, with seven flora species of conservation concern".