The first US President Bush (George senior, the intelligent one) used to confess that he had trouble with what he called “the vision thing”. That was a reference to his inability to articulate a vision for his presidency. It was possibly this failing that contributed to his defeat in the 1992 election at the hands of the great communicator Bill Clinton.

No such inadequacy can be laid at the door of the Lantau Development Advisory Committee, which recently published a report setting out its vision for the future of Hong Kong’s largest island. In simple terms, the committee sees the great majority of Lantau – much of it precious country park – being left largely for recreation and nature. There are a few proposed developments – a resort, a spa and improved access so visitors and locals can better enjoy what is there. No doubt, the various pressure groups will ensure the south and west of the island remain essentially unspoiled.

But it is the committee’s ideas about development along the northern coast – a great arc from western Tung Chung and the airport along to the Tsing Ma bridge and sweeping down to Penny’s Bay and Hong Kong Disneyland – that really capture the imagination. The report revolves around a single statement which looks so obvious when expounded that everyone will wonder why it seems new: with the completion of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge, north Lantau will no longer be the “western end of Hong Kong” but, rather, an important gateway to the whole of the Pearl River Delta.

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It used to be a common misconception among residents of Hong Kong Island that they were at the centre of everything. They saw Kowloon as a foreign country, and the New Territories including the outlying islands were beyond the pale.