Hong Kong officials eye residential development in Yuen Long for 85,000 people from 2026
The plan is to build 27,700 new flats across 183 hectares to ease housing crunch
Yuen Long is the next focal point of residential development in Hong Kong, with the government planning for the first of some 85,000 people to move to the area in 10 years’ time.
Unveiling the latest plan for 183 hectares of land located south of Yuen Long New Town, the
Development Bureau yesterday said the project was part of a move to increase the housing supply and develop brownfield sites in the New Territories.
About 60 per cent of the 27,700 new flats to be built in the area would be public housing, concentrated in three residential zones. Under the plan, the active agricultural land to the south of Tong Yan San Tsuen would be preserved, forming a green zone of about 15 hectares.
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Over 100 hectares of land in the area is considered by the government to be brownfield sites, which are currently being used as open storage yards and warehouses.
To accommodate them, about 12 hectares of land would be reserved for storage and workshop purposes in an economic belt close to Yuen Long Highway.
“Yuen Long South will be a southern extension of Yuen Long New Town,” said a Development Bureau spokeswoman. “It’s one of the main sources of our future housing supply.”
To develop the area – of which over 80 per cent is now privately owned – the spokeswoman said the government planned to take back the land and compensate and arrange rehousing for affected residents. She added that the government would allow property owners to apply for land exchange in suitable circumstances.
As to the cost of the development project, the spokeswoman said the government had yet to determine a figure.
According to the Development Bureau, the public was generally supportive of the project after officials conducted two rounds of consultation since 2013. An estimated 2,300 people live in the targeted area.
When asked why Lam Hau Tsuen and Shan Ha Tsuen – two villages nearly encircled by the project site – would not be developed, the spokeswoman said there were people living there.
The government plans to further consult the public regarding its proposal until April this year; after that, officials will begin finalising their development plan for the Yuen Long area.
Subject to planning approval and obtaining funding for the project, the government hopes to begin construction in 2020 and expects people to start moving there in 2026.
Democratic Party lawmaker Wu Chi-wai, a member of the Legislative Council’s development panel, said overall he welcomed the development plan as it sought to consolidate existing industries on brownfield sites into one area.
“The direction is right and I think it could be further studied,” he said. “Brownfield sites are in need of consolidation and the government has to confront the issue.”
