LAMMA residents, environmentalists and archaeologists are claiming an unprecedented victory over the owners of the Lamma power station, following a decision by Hong Kong Electric to scrap its plans to build a storage site directly behind the island's mostpopular beach.
Lamma residents and environmental campaigners bombarded the Government with petitions and letters objecting to the company's proposals for the construction at Tai Wan To beach.
They said rare nesting grounds and an archaeological site would be ruined if the developers received the go-ahead to build on 1,800 square metres of ''virgin'' land.
Residents also feared the beach would become inaccessible if planning permission was granted.
And archaeologists were angry when a Government official was quoted as saying the archaeological site was ''not of any great importance'', a statement which protesters claimed could not have been further from the truth.
The site, now designated a site of special archaeological interest (SSAI), was first discovered in 1932 and ranks among the 10 most important in Hong Kong.
Several digs have taken place and a number of bronzes - daggers, axes and arrow tips - dating to 1,000 BC have been unearthed.