Rethink over Hong Kong golf course for housing: is it a case of rich versus poor and will it be a test of political will for John Lee?
- Four years ago, an extensive public engagement exercise led by a task force on land supply backed turning part of the exclusive club over for much-needed flats
- But that recommendation is now being questioned by political elites, setting up the possibility of a government U-turn on a housing solution that seemed like a done deal
Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee caused a stir in the establishment last Sunday when she urged the Hong Kong government to abandon a well-discussed plan to redevelop part of an exclusive golf course to solve the city’s housing crunch.
The veteran lawmaker argued that the contentious proposal to build some 12,000 public housing units at the Fanling site, endorsed by the previous administration led by Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, was not cost-effective and would destroy the ecology there. She also warned it would deal a further blow to the city’s competitiveness if it were to lose its showpiece course.
Ip, a declared member of the Hong Kong Golf Club, which leases the site, had previously objected to the plan.
But given her new role as convenor of the Executive Council, the city’s top decision-making body, Ip’s comments raised eyebrows, fuelling talk on whether she was in effect putting pressure on newly minted leader John Lee Ka-chiu.
The timing of her call was also curious. Ip spoke a day ahead of a meeting by official environmental advisers who were slated to scrutinise the ecological survey commissioned by the government over the golf course plan.
Following a marathon meeting on Monday, the Advisory Council on the Environment (ACE) said it had failed to reach a consensus on whether to approve the environment impact assessment report, with members expressing “many doubts” over the study data.