Spiny frogs, ancient trees and a dairy farm: can an ‘eco-heritage park’ preserve Hong Kong nature and history?
Resident group waits with bated breath for Town Planning Board’s decision on their Chi Fu Valley proposal two years in the making
A group of residents from a private housing estate in Hong Kong’s Pok Fu Lam are pinning their hopes on town planners this Friday to approve a proposal to turn an adjacent valley into the city’s first “eco-heritage park”.
Their application to the Town Planning Board, submitted two years ago, calls for 3.4 hectares (8.4 acres) of public land in Chi Fu Valley – east of Chi Fu Fa Yuen estate – to be rezoned from “residential use” to “other specified use” to preserve remnants of an old dairy farm and its surrounding flora and fauna.
Steve Sau Chi-ching, convenor of the Chi Fu Fa Yuen Residents’ Association Greenbelt Rezoning Concern Group, said evidence collected over the years from academics, professionals and the public pointed to the valley’s high ecological and heritage value.
“We strongly believe that the only way to preserve this area is to change its land use, and open it up as an outdoor museum and for nature observation,” Sau said. “I am quite optimistic [that the plan would gain approval].”
The Planning Department previously objected to the plan on grounds of land-use compatibility and the feasibility of implementation.
Authorities originally proposed building public housing in the valley, as part of the redevelopment plans for nearby Wah Fu Estate, but the decision was shelved by the Housing Department last year after several heritage structures were found in the area.
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An assessment by the Antiquities Advisory Board – a statutory body that evaluates old buildings – last year confirmed 11 historic buildings or monuments in the valley with potential grade two and three statuses. The grades are part of a three-tier system indicating how much effort should be spent preserving a structure, with grade one as the highest level.