SUPPORTERS of environmental groups may be disappointed that New Territories farmland now disfigured by illegal dump-sites and scrap yards is not to be returned to agriculture or converted to country parks. There may also be some justified criticism that the farmers who made money from these eyesores are now to be rewarded for so blatantly and illegally spoiling the landscape.
Nevertheless, credit must be given to the Government for its imaginative proposal that some of the farmland now given over to such inappropriate use could be rezoned to allow redevelopment.
The scheme would let the Government meet demands for extra land without either encroaching on what little unspoiled New Territories countryside remains, or being forced to propose the release of new land to the Sino-British Land Development Corporation. Meanwhile, farm landlords now making money from waste could be profiting more productively from investment in badly needed New Territories housing, in joint ventures with developers.
It should, however, be a minimum requirement that all new developments must be landscaped to restore some of the former charm of the affected areas. Moreover, the farmers' share of the rezoning premium should be increased to incorporate a fine for previous misbehaviour. That is not something the developer should be permitted to pay on the farmer's behalf.
Hong Kong undoubtedly could do with more strongly enforced green belt rules. But it also desperately needs further room for expansion of affordable residential property.
If accommodation can be delivered in areas no longer considered places of great natural beauty and without creating yet another hostage to soured Sino-British relations, then so much the better.
