Plan for another shopping border mall in New Territories alarms Hong Kong green groups

Another border shopping mall is being planned to target mainland visitors - on a piece of degraded wetland in Kam Tin in the northwestern New Territories.

While the developer argued the proposal would boost tourism and not disturb the ecology in the area, green groups feared there might be a cumulative effect on the nearby ecologically sensitive area of Nam Sang Wai, where various developers want to build flats and hotels.

The development was put up for three weeks of public consultation yesterday. The 92,928 square metre site is surrounded by ponds to the north, the Tam Mi section of Castle Peak Road to the east, a factory to the south and Kam Tin River to the west.

"The application site is … easily connected with other parts of the territory and easily accessible to/from the Lok Ma Chau cross-border point," developer King Garden wrote in its application. A growing population in the New Territories and increasing numbers of mainland visitors meant the location had great commercial potential, it said.

It proposed building up to 12 blocks for shops and restaurants, each no more than four-storeys high. The development would also include commercial fish ponds to the west of the buildings, separated by trees.

The plan was unveiled more than three months after Henderson Land Development and Sun Hung Kai Properties said they were jointly planning a mall in San Tin, even closer to the border, to help divert mainland shoppers from urban areas.