Update | Extra 1,000 flats mooted for Anderson Road quarry project: Hong Kong government source
New railway line inspired planners to look into feasibility of adding to the vast housing project in hilly north of Kwun Tong, source says
Another 1,000 flats could be added to the huge Anderson Road quarry development in Sau Mau Ping as part of efforts to meet ambitious housing targets, a government source said.
The housing project at the 86-hectare former quarry was originally designed to house 25,000 residents in some 9,410 flats - 80 per cent of which would be private.
The development is scheduled for completion in four years.
"When the government [in September] announced it would build an MTR station in Sau Mau Ping, next to the quarry, as part of the new East Kowloon Line, it created this opportunity to add more flats," the source said.
The plan is being scrutinised by the Development Bureau, the source said. Housing density would go up by 20 per cent at most as a result of the additions.
The move is in line with Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's appeal in his policy address last week that more land for housing had to be found to meet his target of providing 480,000 new public and private flats in a decade. But a district councillor and an air quality expert had concerns about adding to the quarry site.