A celebrated girls' school in Pok Fu Lam has been hit with a HK$200,000 fine for pruning back a protected tree last year without permission, after school leaders feared students could be hit by falling branches and nuts.
The hefty fine, imposed this month by the government on St Stephen's Girls' College on Bonham Road for breaching its tenancy agreement, came to light yesterday after Lands Department officials responded to a concern group's complaint about the candlenut tree.
According to its letter to the Lung Fu Shan Environmental Concern Group, the department said the candlenut tree had been 'seriously damaged'' by the pruning. St Stephen's Girls' College did not responds to calls from the South China Morning Post yesterday.
The department said no prior submission had been made for the pruning work, violating a condition in the school's tenancy agreement.
One district councillor described the punishment as over the top, but tree specialists said the fine was reasonable.
A local arborist who saw the work on the tree said the pruning - which removed a large part of the candlenut's crown - was unprofessional. He said he was told by the workers who did the pruning that the school thought the tree was dangerous to students.