Green activists are pressing the government to reject a land exchange deal with Henderson Land for a luxury housing development in Nam Sang Wai they say would destroy one of the last remaining wetlands in the western New Territories.
Green Sense and the Professional Commons said a land search had revealed that the government still holds 22 hectares of the 98-hectare Nam Sang Wai development site and 19 hectares of a 41-hectare site to the north of it, which is also co-owned by Henderson Land. The developer expects the government to do a land exchange so Henderson can go ahead with the project.
But in last-minute lobbying before a Town Planning Board meeting on Friday, the green groups said: 'Officials considering the land exchange application should note that the community now has much higher aspiration towards nature conservation than 10 years ago.'
Albert Lai Kwong-tak, chairman of the Professional Commons, said: 'Even though the developer was granted a development right from the Town Planning Appeal Board more than 10 years ago, the Lands Department has no duty to facilitate the development by approving the land swap.'
Nam Sang Wai is popular not just for bird watching but also movie shooting and wedding photography because of its picturesque natural character. More than 5,000 great cormorants were found roosting on the site last December.
If the project goes ahead, up to 54 hectares of the 100-hectare site will be taken to build 2,250 flats and a nine-hole golf course. The developer also proposes setting up a nature reserve on 41 hectares at nearby Lut Chau, a plan that failed to win green groups' support, who said the reserve would not make up for the loss of wetland.