Sai Kung village house project is defiling country park, say residents

While debate continues over building housing on country park land, people at Sai Kung say the construction of village houses within the Sai Kung Country Park is already causing harm.

Twenty houses are being built on one side of a single-track road that runs along a stream filled with wildlife such as turtles, egrets and kingfishers in Tai Tan, a Hakka village that boasts one of the most beautiful views in Sai Kung Country Park.

According to the Lands Department and the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, the Sai Kung site has been approved for small-house development. The department said the project was not officially in a country park because it was on private land zoned for "village-type development" within the country park.

"Government officials said it does not affect the country park," said one Tai Tan resident. "But of course it does.

"I haven't seen a porcupine, wild boar or snake this year, which I can only assume is down to the noise and loss of habitat. The houses are being built in the usual style, with no attempt to fit into such beautiful surroundings."

Pok Fu Lam district councillor Paul Zimmerman said that despite objections from green groups and conservation experts, the government had given in to rural lobby group the Heung Yee Kuk over large development zones for village houses inside country parks.