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Paul Chan said rehousing villagers on brownfield sites was just one of the issues that had to be tackled. Photo: Felix Wong

Technical issues affect development of brownfield sites for housing in Hong Kong, says minister

Paul Chan agrees use of such land is essential, but government first has to deal with businesses and squatters established in such areas

The development minister says clearing up brownfield sites is an “essential option” to tackle land shortage but it is not an immediate solution as there are difficulties to tackle, including the rehousing of villagers.

Elaborating on Friday on the measures on housing and land supply listed in the chief executive’s policy address, Paul Chan Mo-po admitted they would all come with technical difficulties.

This include developing brownfield sites – such as storage depots and scrap car yards – which have been taken up abandoned farmland across the New Territories. Activists have urged the government to use brownfield for housing before considering developing green belts and country parks.

READ MORE: Developing brownfield land the size of nearly 1,200 soccer pitches should be Hong Kong government’s priority: urban planning group

“To be honest with you, we can’t give priority to brownfield land,” the secretary for development told a press conference. “There are many squatter huts and different operations including recycling yards and pig farms, which provide jobs to people. You can’t just kick them out. A comprehensive study and planning is needed.”

There is 190 hectares of such land in Hung Shiu Kiu, and 109 hectares in Yuen Long South, and some more in Yuen Long’s Wang Chau and Kam Tin.

A cross-departmental taskforce has been set up to study the possibility of moving some of those operations into multi-storey buildings. If the government can find 10 hectares of land to build such blocks to house the operations, 50 hectares of brownfield can be released for housing, Chan said.

The proposal for Yuen Long South would be released next week for public consultation, and the final scheme in Hung Shui Kiu would be available later this year.

READ MORE: ‘Sacred cows’ hinder Hong Kong’s land development policy

Chan Kim-ching, member of Liber Research Community which released a study last month that identified as much as 1,200 hectares of brownfield land in the city, disagreed with the minister.

“In countries such as Britain, the land strategy is to give priority to developing brownfield before destroying the green land,” Chan said. He urged the minister to release more data, such as how many squatter-hut residents and business operations would be affected.

Meanwhile, Chan spoke about a development scheme for Tseung Kwan O Area 137, originally earmarked for industrial use and now partly occupied by a landfill. The government has said a remaining area of 80 hectares could yield up to 30,000 flats—almost three-quarters of a year of housing supply needed in the next decade.

Chan said a consultancy study would be carried out for that project to address public concerns whether the site near the landfill – likely to bring odour – would be suitable for housing.

Meanwhile, Chan said a review of the small-house policy was “not his priority” in his term as it would not help increase land supply. The existing strategy was to slow down indigenous villagers’ applications for small houses if they do not have their own land.

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