LEGISLATIVE councillors yesterday accused Wembley International (WI) of failing during construction to make the Hong Kong Stadium a quieter venue, hoping the Government would exempt it from noise control laws. Members of the Legislative Council's Environmental Affairs and Recreation and Culture panels accused the company, responsible for the management of the stadium, of deliberately avoiding taking steps such as building a roof or a wall, that would have helped it avoid breaching the Noise Control Ordinance during concerts. Legislator Fred Li Wah-ming claimed the firm ignored earlier noise warnings from the Environmental Protection Department (EPD), preferring to try to win a waiver from legal controls. ''WI only wanted to hold their planned numbers of concerts with waivers or exemptions even after the warning from the EPD,'' Mr Li said. ''They neglected all other alternatives while waiting for it [the exemption] and wasted the opportunity to avoid this trouble.'' Managing director of Wembley, Robin Oram, said that with its experience in managing stadiums in London, the company thought local residents would not object too much if the firm restricted itself to an annual tally of 12 to 14 concerts operating on noise control exemptions. ''The best solution is to hold a certain number of concerts with a waiver, as we did in London,'' he said. ''We believed that by working together with the EPD, we could come to a conclusion.''
