THE project to clear Rennie's Mill has been delayed for at least a year following residents' fierce resistance to the Government compensation proposals.
Government surveyors have been barred several times by residents of the Sai Kung cottage area from evaluating their premises. Residents said that no official would be admitted until their demands for more compensation were met.
Clearance was scheduled to start last month but was held up by the deadlock in compensation negotiations.
The Legislative Council Lands and Works Panel was expected to be briefed on developments in negotiations at a meeting on Thursday.
The Housing Department, which is in charge of the clearance, said it was likely that vacating the village would be pushed back by at least one year.
A senior housing manager, Mr Lai Wing-kin, said: ''We want to go ahead as soon as possible. But the residents do not even allow our staff to go into the area to survey their premises.'' The residents had been promised nine months' notice, according to Mr Lai.