A controversial plan to demolish much of Shek O village to make way for upmarket villas has been shelved in the face of resistance from residents.
Notices to suspend the clearance, originally planned for next April, have reached villagers.
The Government is understood to have postponed action, pending further negotiation, after it failed to persuade villagers to accept the project.
Shek O Residents' Association vice-chairman Tony Wong Yee-fong has claimed victory and accused the Government of unsuccessfully trying to thrust the plan down residents' throats.
'The officials failed to substantiate their claims that our homes were built on Crown land,' Mr Wong said.
'We asked them to go back to the office to check the files instead of talking big. They conceded and promised to stop the project until our questions had been clarified.' Mr Wong said villagers believed there was a government conspiracy to sell off their land to big developers.
In August, a 270 square-metre residential lot on Shek O headland was sold to Sino Land for $17 million in a land auction. Many villagers fear more auctions will follow.