It was recently reported that the owner of No 27 Lugard Road had made an application to the Town Planning Board for change of use.
During the consultation period, the board received a number of objections. As revealed in the planning application, the owner proposed an adaptive reuse of the existing house which was built in 1916 as a heritage hotel.
The fate of No 27 Lugard Road is still an unknown. To me, the significance of the case is not the outcome of the application, but the reflection of the inadequacy of the present conservation policy and legislation.
In Hong Kong, the principal piece of conservation legislation is the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance. Like its name, the ordinance is a kind of antique. It was enacted in 1976 with only minor amendments since then.
Under the ordinance, the secretary for development is empowered to declare a property as either a proposed monument or a monument.
The ordinance allows the owner or any lawful occupier of the property to object to the declaration and the Chief Executive in Council has the final say on the objection.
