Study into building on Hong Kong country parks faces scrutiny
Green activist says group ‘very concerned’ that study, set to begin next year, will be biased in favour of development on protected land
The body running a controversial study into building on parts of Hong Kong’s country parks is set to face questions over who will conduct the investigation and how it will run, in a Friday meeting with an advisory board on the city’s protected land.
A green activist, who also sits on the board, said his group was “very concerned” that the eventual study would be biased in favour of building on the scenic land.
At the meeting, the government-appointed Country and Marine Parks Board, which advises the government on conservation issues involving the parks, will also hear a government plan to merge two proposed marine parks in south Lantau Island into a bigger one.
In May, the government tasked the Housing Society, a non-profit-making body which provides housing for low income and middle-class families, with overseeing the study on developing the fringes of country parks into public housing and homes for the elderly.
Two sites of 20 hectares each were proposed for the study, on the edges of Tai Lam and Ma On Shan country parks, both in the New Territories. The society shortlisted five consultancy firms to do the study.
A society spokeswoman said it would invite the five to submit proposals next week, detailing how they planned to do the study and how much they would charge. She said the society hoped to make the final appointment in January next year.