Letters | Hong Kong housing: focus on the small-house policy, not the golf course

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Regarding redeveloping the 32-hectare site at Fanling leased by the government to the Hong Kong Golf Club into 12,000 public housing units, opponents appear to have no empathy for underprivileged Hongkongers living in cage homes and waiting several years to be allocated subsidised housing while the elite few enjoy playing golf on land leased at a subsidised rate. On the other hand, proponents of redevelopment are hell bent on gaining political ground using an easy target in the debate over how to solve Hong Kong’s housing problem.

The Old Course should be fully open to the public, instead of non-members being subject to restrictions. It could be operated by the Hong Kong Golf Club or another golf club selected by tender. The Old Course could still be reserved for professional tournaments.

The secretary for development should consider the vast potential of land occupied by village houses built using ding rights. With innovative and bold initiatives, existing owners of small houses in villages could be compensated for surrendering their property. Such compensation would include not only entitlement to a unit in the newly developed estate, but also the cost of moving, accommodation during the development period and interior decoration of the new unit.