Authorities ‘fully committed’ to public housing project at exclusive Hong Kong golf course, says development chief amid setbacks
- Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn gives strongest indication to date that government is pressing ahead with plan to build 12,000 flats on Fanling golf course
- Comments come after top government adviser Regina Ip publicly opposed housing project
Hong Kong’s development chief has given the strongest indication to date that the government is determined to press ahead with a contentious plan to build 12,000 public housing flats on an exclusive golf course despite recent setbacks.
Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho on Monday weighed in on the boiling controversy for the first time after the government’s top adviser in the Executive Council, Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, earlier this month came out in opposition to the housing scheme for the Fanling golf course endorsed by the previous administration.
Against the backdrop of heavy behind-the-scenes lobbying by the Hong Kong Golf Club, which leases the site, over the ecological value of the area, the government’s environmental advisers earlier decided in a rare move to push back any decisions on the project by at least seven months.
Linn said: “[The housing plan] went through public deliberations a few years ago and a feasibility study has also been conducted to conclude that there is no ‘insurmountable challenge’ in terms of transport, environmental impact assessment and housing production.”
She said the 12,000 flats proposed for a section of the course could be completed in 10 years, adding that the homes would make up a significant proportion of the city’s housing supply in the next decade.