Government looks into developing Fanling golf courses, villa

The fates of the Fanling golf courses and chief executive's official villa will be decided in a study next year into the development potential of the countryside close to the border, the development minister has said.

On his blog yesterday, Development Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said the study, expected to take 15 months, would look into the possibility of releasing more land in the area for housing and other developments. He promised ecologically sensitive sites, including the wetland near Deep Bay, would be kept intact. "We would balance the needs for development and preservation, as well as the protection of the environment and sites with high ecological values," said Chan.

Green groups had earlier criticised the government for grabbing rural land and evicting villagers to make way for housing projects, and challenged it to first develop the Fanling golf courses and chief executive's official villa.

The study comes as the government consults the public on plans to develop 826 hectares of land for the Hung Shui Kiu new town, which is to border Tin Shui Wai in the northwestern New Territories. The government hopes the new town will provide extra housing for 170,000 people.

The blueprint, for which the latest round of consultation will close tomorrow, appears to have won the rare support of Green Sense, a green group known for its opposition to most development plans.

Green Sense president Roy Tam Hoi-pong said it supported the plan because much of the land was so-called brownfield - abandoned industrial - sites.