Hong Kong judicial review over golf course development to be decided in September
- Golf club filed legal challenge last year to overturn environmental impact assessment report that would have paved way for housing project
Hong Kong’s High Court is expected to rule on a judicial review case in September involving a government development proposal to build 12,000 public flats on part of the city’s oldest golf course.
The Hong Kong Golf Club filed a legal challenge in July last year in an attempt to overturn an environmental impact assessment report that would have paved the way for a public housing project on 9.5 hectares (23.5 acres) of the 172-hectare course in Fanling.
The court earlier ordered a temporary halt to any decisions arising from the report until the judicial challenge was resolved.
After hearing submissions on Tuesday, the court adjourned the case until September 11 or before.
Representing the club, Senior Counsel Benjamin Yu Yuk-hoi said the Environmental Protection Department had failed to maintain fairness and omitted “a very material assessment” in the impact assessment report during the public consultation phase.
He argued the department’s decision in May 2023 to conditionally approve the report might constitute ultra vires, or “beyond the powers”, and procedural unfairness.
In May last year, the director of environmental protection gave conditional approval to the ecological assessment by the Civil Engineering and Development Department regarding constructing the flats.