Discovery Bay expansion plan angers residents who fear their peaceful lives will be ruined

Discovery Bay residents are up in arms about a major development plan to expand the neighbourhood’s landmark plaza and create new housing in two areas – a plan they say is not in the community’s best interest and will lead to overcrowding.

Developer Hong Kong Resort Co is set to begin implementing a large-scale plan that will increase the number of retail shops in Discovery Bay Plaza from 100 to 130, as well as relocating and renovating the bus terminus to include 10 per cent more parking spaces for golf carts and 30 per cent more bus bays. Construction will begin later this year and is scheduled to finish in 2021.

The plan also includes building residential developments around Parkvale Village and Nim Shue Wan, which will change the land usage and requires governmental approval.

The proposed developments are slated to create about 1,600 units for roughly 4,000 people, according to applications submitted by Hong Kong Resort Co. The developer submitted two proposals in February to the Town Planning Board.

“What upsets me is that we have something really very good, and what they’re going to do will actually spoil it,” said Edwin Rainbow, a 71-year-old Discovery Bay resident who has lived in Nim Shue Wan for 17 years. “The proposed development would completely change the environment. The population in the area they are going to build is much more intense than the existing part of Discovery Bay.”

During the public consultation period that ended on April 8, the two proposals received a total of 4,404 comments. Hong Kong Resort Co told the Post that about 70 per cent of comments were in support of the developments. The projects were currently at a “preliminary stage” and the approval process would determine when the development started, the company said.