Alternatives to preserving historic structures will be released for public consultation
In the wake of the Queen's Pier saga, extra options to preserve the pier and the Star Ferry Pier's clock tower will be offered for public consultation by the end of October, government sources said yesterday.
Instead of releasing one model for consultation, the Development Bureau will provide multiple options, including reconstructing the pier and clock tower at their original sites, sources said, adding the future Central harbour-front design would be a chance for the government to show it had listened to the voice of the public.
The first round consultation on the new Central waterfront ended in June. Among the four designs recommended by the bureau earlier, it was suggested the clock tower be re-erected at the new waterfront, but now an option of reconstructing the clock tower at its original site is expected in the upcoming consultation document.
Meanwhile, members of Local Action Group took a rest yesterday, a day after being forcibly evicted by the government from the pier. The three hunger strikers are recovering and some members said they had returned to work.
Among the three protesters arrested by the police during the scuffles that broke out at the pier on Wednesday, cleaner Ma Chor-ming, 52, pleaded not guilty in Eastern Court yesterday to three counts of assaulting police officers. He was released on HK$300 bail yesterday.
Designer Fung Ping-tak, 41, who is under police supervision in hospital, also faces a charge of assaulting police. The case was adjourned until next Tuesday for re-mention.