Some politicians will go to absurd lengths to be the first man, or in this case the first woman. After it became clear most Hung Hom residents objected to a government plan (pictured) to build by their waterfront, Kowloon West lawmaker Priscilla Leung Mei-fun rushed to submit an alternative plan for residents. It was a few pages long and handwritten, hardly the stuff of professional urban design and planning.
But at least Leung, of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, could claim she beat the Democrats. Her rivals, however, have been working with residents and submitted a proposal to rezone several sites to provide the 16.12 hectares of open space the district is entitled to under the standard planning formula.
Residents are fed up with overdevelopment. Even some leading developers now support a lower density plan. As one resident puts it: 'Is it not possible to have a relatively 'simple' park, with open grassed spaces where kiddies, and adults, can simply kick a ball around?'
It's never simple when it has to do with land and money in this town.
