Ho Tung Gardens to be bulldozed; minister admits policy failure
While west wing on Government Hill will be saved, Ho Tung Gardens will not; minister says U-turn on mansion shows need for rethink
The government admitted a policy failure yesterday as it decided to give up on a plan to save the historic Ho Tung Gardens on The Peak, which is held by an owner who refuses to co-operate.
It also bowed to public pressure and abandoned a scheme, put forward by the last administration, to redevelop the west wing of the former government headquarters in Central.
The secretary for development, Paul Chan Mo-po, announced the Ho Tung Gardens decision, made by Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying with the Executive Council.
He said the abandonment of the plan to declare the mansion and private park a monument came down to money. "We understand that not everyone would agree with spending billions of dollars of public money on private heritage sites," Chan said.
The mansion's owner, Ho Min-kwan, rejected all proposals from the government, including a land swap. Ho, who could not be reached yesterday, wants to demolish the main building to build ten houses.
Chan said Ho had asked for compensation of HK$7 billion, while the government estimated the site's worth at HK$3 billion.
Chan said the Ho Tung Gardens case showed a need for a heritage policy review.