Estate with Hong Kong's tiniest flats denied a shuttle-bus service
Tai Po's Mont Vert - noted for having the city's smallest flat - left high and dry as government denies management permission to run minibus
Life in the Tai Po estate that made headlines for containing the city's smallest flats is proving far from idyllic - with residents complaining that poor transport links have left them on an "island".
The 300 people living at Mont Vert, where homes as small as 165 sq ft went on sale in October, are demanding the Transport Department reverse a decision to refuse estate management permission to run a shuttle minibus to Tai Po Market MTR station 3km away.
The department has instead increased the frequency of green minibuses on the route - the new 20P started yesterday, operating every 10 minutes from 7am to 10pm and replacing the 20A, which ran only every half hour.
However residents say that might not be enough, given that the minibus also serves a nearby village, Fung Yuen. Instead they want a shuttle, and note 30 other such services operate in Tai Po.
But Mont Vert's management company, a subsidiary of its developer, Cheung Kong, has seen three applications knocked back.
The department explained that the first two were rejected because they were made before people started to move in. The company applied again in March as the residents arrived, but was told the 20P service would meet demand "for the time being".
Villagers from Fung Yuen would not think we were taking away their resources