Developers have their day in court

The High Court will rule soon on whether the Town Planning Board (TPB) acted in a fair and impartial way in handling the objections of developers over gazetted zoning plans, or, as developers contend, were 'both judge and jury' in the land development dispute.

The bitter dispute revolves around developers' insistence that with Kai Tak airport closing there is no reason they should be prevented from building higher in Kowloon.

Last week in Queensway Court, lawyers for the Real Estate Developers Association (REDA) argued that their clients 'had been denied a fair hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal' when the TPB turned down REDA's objections last year to the Outlying Zoning Plans (OZP), which were gazetted by the Government in 1993.

However, lawyers for the TPB rejected REDA's contentions, saying that 'the statute is aimed at balancing efficiency, maturity, quality and fairness to enable the most appropriate plan to emerge from the planning process under the ordinance'.

The application before the High Court last week sought a judicial review of the TPB's decision not to propose any amendments to its 16 OZPs and address developers' objections to the plans.

Wai Siu-yu, general secretary of REDA, said that developers had filed a motion to have the plot ratio density limitations reviewed following the defeat of their objections to the outlying zoning plans in 1993, which included the consultants' recommendations.