Green group calls for calm on flat plans
Green Sense says there is no need to rush into 'senseless' plans that just upset residents, but tycoon backs suggestion of using country parks
An environmental group called on the government to "calm down" in its desperate hunt for land to build houses, after Development Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po suggested a discussion on whether the city's country parks could be developed.
Green Sense president Roy Tam Hoi-pong said Chan's idea and other government "senseless and unnecessary housing plans" were creating conflicts in the city.
Tam said one such project was a 0.05 hectare site in Sai Wan Ho, near Tung Tao Court and Tung Yuk Court. The land was included in the list for sale in June.
"Sai Wan Ho is already a dense area, and such a piece of land could only hold fewer than 100 units," he said. "The government is depriving thousands of people of fresh air and good health for that amount of flats."
Samson Kwan Ling-kit, a resident of Tung Tao Court and a member of a group concerned about the development, said the residents were also unhappy about the lack of consultation.
Another example, Tam said, was the development in the former Tai Hom Village in Wong Tai Sin. District Council documents on Tuesday showed 4,200 flats, instead of 1,500 on the original plan, would be built because of a "serious lack of housing need".
Wong Tai Sin district councillor Mandy Tam Heung-man said this would create a wall effect.