Five illegal ashes vaults operating for years

At least five operators have been storing ashes illegally, before recently seeking approval. Without legal permission, some have built niches on land zoned as green belt or 'government, institution or community' use.

Town Planning Board figures show that five private columbarium operators have sought approval for 30,086 niches in the past two years. Some of them have been providing the service for years. Lung Shan Temple in Fanling has had 17,600 niches on green belt land since 1993, only getting planning permission last year.

The other operators are Fung Yin Seen Koon and Wun Chuen Sin Kwoon in Fanling; and Shun Shin Chee Kit Yin Koon and Tao Fung Shan Christian Cemetery in Sha Tin.

In some cases, if the land lease does not stipulate a use, an operator has to go to the Lands Department to revise the lease and pay a premium. A town planning official said few private operators who breached land use to build spaces for urns would take the initiative to seek approval and pay a premium.

Fung Ying Seen Koon, a famous Taoist temple established in 1927, has an extension with about 5,000 urn spaces that gained approval last year, although it has been in existence for seven years. The temple's chief executive, Leung Tak-wah, said: 'We have long operated spaces for urns as our Taoist practice of paying tribute to ancestors. But rising demand has led us to expand. We completed building that extension about seven years ago, but we didn't realise we were building it on the adjoining government land until two years ago.'

Its niches sell for HK$50,000 to HK$98,000 each and provide half the temple's income. The Lands Department said it was still reviewing the temple's case and negotiations on the premium had not started.

Mr Leung estimated the remaining 500 vacant niches would be filled in about two years. But the temple has no space to expand further.