A LAYER of greasy film covers the water, the smell of human waste clings to the air and burned out trucks litter the pathways ... welcome to Lut Chau, the area choked of life that has become the site of a bitter battle between environmentalists and property developers.
At first glance, you wonder what all the fuss is about. The 40-hectare Mai Po site - described as prime 'wetlands' by green groups, but dismissed as decaying 'badlands' by the property money men - is a graveyard for all manner of urban detritus. Its few remaining fish farms are close to dereliction.
But it has been the focus of a lengthy and costly court battle and, located at the foot of the Mai Po Nature Reserve, promises to play a major role in a propsed $2 billion development of the area.
The Henderson Group wants to build a golf course and housing complex in Nam Sang Wai, 98.3 hectares of land around Mai Po. To compensate, the company has promised to create a nature reserve to the north at Lut Chau.
But environmentalists are naturally sceptical. While the nature reserve looks acceptable on paper, they warn there is no law to ensure that Henderson will fulfil its promise.
At the beginning of May, the Government lost its final attempt to save the area around the reserve from developers. The ambitious project was twice dismissed by the Town Planning Board but the decision was overturned in August by the independent Town Planning Appeal Board.
In a High Court challenge this month the planning board said it was illegal for the appeal board to sanction the destuction of the fishponds. But the application for a judicial review was thrown out.