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Legislative Council elections 2016
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Who says we’re done building? Hong Kong housing authority adviser claims public housing project still in works

Controversial brownfield site approved for 4,000 flats could get more, ex-Town Planning Board vice-chairman insists

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Stanley Wong Yuen-fai, now with the Housing Authority, formerly served on the Town Planning Board. Photo: Dickson Lee
Naomi NgandShirley Zhao

The Hong Kong government has not abandoned a public housing project at a controversial brownfield site in the New Territories, despite allegations that authorities have yielded to public pressure to forgo its development, a Housing Authority member said.

The revelation came a day after newly elected lawmaker Eddie Chu Hoi-dick urged Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying to explain why the government did not develop Wang Chau brownfield site in Yuen Long – which could have provided 17,000 flats – and instead opted for a scaled-down version with only 4,000 flats in another site where three villages are now located.

Stanley Wong Yuen-fai, chairman of the Housing Authority’s subsidised housing committee, said plans to build the remaining 13,000 flats for public housing were still in the works.

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“According to my understanding, it’s not a matter of either 17,000 units or 4,000 units,” he said. “Developing 4,000 flats doesn’t mean abandoning the original plan of 17,000.”

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The Wang Chau plan, which has been strongly opposed by rural landlords, has brought forth allegations from Chu and others that the government opted out of developing the site in order to appease those who have vested interests in the land.

Developing 4,000 flats doesn’t mean abandoning the original plan of 17,000
Stanley Wong Yuen-fai, Housing Authority
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