Golf range sacrificed for public housing project
Cheung Sha Wan residents will lose the open space, but have been promised another spot
District councillors fear the government's desperate search for housing land will eat up recreational space, after it was announced a golf driving range must give way to housing.
It is the third time planning officials have lobbied district councils since Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying last month called on the public to sacrifice their interests and support the construction of public flats in their neighbourhoods.
They told members of the Sham Shui Po District Council that the temporary golf range on Lai Chi Kok Road, Cheung Sha Wan, would be rezoned shortly.
The 2.3 hectare site is expected to yield 2,300 units by 2019.
Leung had earlier identified the driving range as a potential housing site, but details were only revealed to the council a few days ago. To compensate residents for the loss of open space, a similar sized site will be rezoned as open space. It now houses a poultry wholesale market and two government blocks, including a factory run by the Housing Department.
Councillor Chum Tak-sing noted the department's Wang Cheong factory estate, housing small industrial workshops, was fully occupied.
"I do not object to building public flats on the golf [range], but why did you choose this site with occupied buildings to compensate for the loss of open space? When will the factory estate ever be vacated?" Chum said.
