Appeal for new Central Police Station concept to respect 77-metre height guide

The 77-metre height restriction proposed by the Antiquities Advisory Board should be respected in the revised design for the Central Police Station compound, board members urged yesterday as a modification of the design was released without a height limit.

Under the new design framework unveiled yesterday, the development of the compound will be scaled down, with smaller arts and cultural venues. But no specific guidance was given to the Swiss architects as to how much the 160-metre structure proposed on top of the station should be reduced.

Secretary for Development Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said yesterday that the Town Planning Board would have the final say on the new plan and flexibility should be given to the architects involved.

Members of the Antiquities Advisory Board and Town Planning Board said the new design should respect the guidelines passed in an Antiquities Advisory Board meeting in 2004, in which members had agreed on a height limit of 77 metres from sea level for the compound - about 10 storeys.

But Mrs Lam said the height limit recommended by the board was not legally binding nor stated as a town planning requirement.

'The new design should conform to the suggested height limit as a start,' Town Planning Board vice-chairman Greg Wong Chak-yan said. 'But a minor height relaxation should be negotiable if the design is the best for public interest.'