Environmentalists target Wan Chai site
A green group has proposed turning almost half the site for Hopewell Holdings' planned Mega Tower into a green belt in an effort to slash the size of the Wan Chai hotel development.
The Conservancy Association submitted an application to the Town Planning Board yesterday for the rezoning of government land that makes up more than 40 per cent of the site. It said such a move would not deprive Hopewell of its development rights because it could still develop the land it already owned.
'The hotel approved 14 years ago no longer satisfies current public aspirations,' said the association's campaign manager, Peter Li Siu-man. 'The greenery saved from the development can even function as the hotel's back garden.'
In the rezoning application, the association said government slopes within the hotel site were densely covered by shrubs, mature trees and wall trees 50 to 80 years old, serving as a buffer in congested Wan Chai South. Saving the greenery at the site would also make the project more consistent with the character of old Wan Chai, in which old structures of east-meets-west style could still be traced.
Historic buildings such as Nam Koo Terrace and the Hung Shing Temple were also found in the neighbourhood, the association said, adding that the footpath connecting the wooded slope and heritage sites could be upgraded as a nature and culture walk.
Mr Li urged the government not to sell Hopewell the government land and return it to the community.