Plan to build flats on site earmarked for Science Park growth put on hold

A decision on a controversial plan to build flats on a site earmarked for the Hong Kong Science Park's expansion was put on hold yesterday by the Town Planning Board.

The eight hectare site in Tai Po, adjacent to the existing 22 hectare Science Park, was originally reserved for the fourth phase of the park's development.

The plan was quashed earlier this year, however, when the government announced it would rezone the site for residential use, as part of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's effort to build 470,000 new flats in a decade.

Now the government wants to sell the land for a medium-density private residential development with 3,380 flats.

The planning board has received mostly negative responses to the proposed change, with the majority of the 554 submissions from the public expressing opposition.

While many residents in the area feared an increase in traffic, opponents from the technology sector said a fourth phase of the Science Park would allow a cluster effect among technology companies, which would be beneficial for Hong Kong's technological development.

"Many firms are considering whether to move to Singapore or the mainland … If Hong Kong kills the plan to build a fourth phase of the Science Park, this will be a message that the technology sector is regarded as unimportant here," said Ken Lam Yat-ming, of the information technology sector group IT Voice, one of 14 members of the public who spoke at the hearing yesterday.