Lantau vision calls for greater transparency

Authorities should strive to ensure due process is scrupulously followed with such a massive project having the potential to cause irreversible environmental damage

SCMP Editorial

Published: 8:15am, 30 Nov 2021

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The Lantau Tomorrow Vision that would see 1,700 hectares reclaimed to create artificial islands for housing has been overtaken in many minds, but not necessarily displaced, by the Northern Metropolis push for integration with the Greater Bay Area. The planning process continues, with three profiles detailing major works elements, reclamation, the road system linking Hong Kong and Lantau islands, and developments to be built on reclaimed land.

The profiles have just been through a two-week public consultation. The city’s green groups, which have raised questions about the plan from the beginning, have called on the Environmental Protection Department to reject them. They claim the profiles have been rushed through without a strategic environmental assessment of the whole project and consideration of alternative solutions to the housing crisis. Under an assessment, departments steering major projects are required to look at alternatives and compare their impact. It also calls for decisions to address the cumulative impact of individual projects.

Will Hong Kong’s biggest-ever reclamation project solve its housing woes?

There is no question that the city is facing a dire situation regarding affordable homes, and a greater supply of land is part of the solution. There is need for a bold vision and action to come up with that solution, but there is no reason to simply rush ahead with it. Environmental costs are easily incurred, but not readily recovered. According to Edwin Lau Che-feng, executive director of The Green Earth, the profiles do not take into account climate change and carbon emissions, important factors if the target of zero emissions by 2050 is to be reached. With consultation over, issues raised warrant comment by planning and environmental officials.

The daunting scale of the project and the potential for environmental damage is reason enough to avoid winding up in court, as happened with the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge. The authorities should strive to ensure due process is scrupulously followed. Urban development and redevelopment do face an increasingly complex regulatory environment. If there is a case for a new developmental approach, the costs and benefits should be openly debated.