Heritage group visits disputed site for the first time
For the first time since the government rezoned the old police married quarters for residential development, councillors, activists and residents fighting to save it stepped inside the gates yesterday.
With representatives from the Planning Department and Antiquities and Monuments office in tow, Central and Western district councillor Kam Nai-wai led the group on a tour of the now deserted quarters. The council has vowed to stand with residents and heritage activists to fight the redevelopment of the 62,400 sq ft block of land.
They have already won a small victory, with town planners halting the sale to allow a better assessment of its historic value. The group examined the two walls they believe are connected with Sun Yat-sen's school.
These walls are the key to their battle to have the land preserved as open space.
Mr Kam compared the walls, which border Staunton Street and Aberdeen Street, with a pictorial history of Queen's college, where the father of modern China studied. The group was told that if the planning application remains the same, the walls will have to be destroyed to widen the road as part of regulations that govern the site.
Katty Law Ngar-Ning said the government had to realise community sentiment no longer supported the destruction of heritage in Central Hong Kong.
'There is enough residential development here but there is nowhere near enough history,' she said.
