A decision to rezone a 9.5-hectare site at Hong Kong’s oldest golf course from “residential” to “undetermined” use will remain in place as a legal challenge against controversial plans for public housing there has yet to be settled, the Town Planning Board has said.
The board on Friday said such zoning provided flexibility for possible outcomes from the judicial review, which the Hong Kong Golf Course filed in August in a bid to halt a government plan to build thousands of flats on part of the Fanling course.
It said it would submit a draft of the Fanling/Sheung Shui Extension Area Outline Zoning Plan to the Chief Executive in Council for consideration before the November 30 statutory due date.
Hong Kong court approves golf club’s bid for judicial review of impact report
Hong Kong court approves golf club’s bid for judicial review of impact report
“Such land-use zoning serves as a transitional arrangement and does not determine the permanent use of the site,” a spokesman said.
“It allows the Civil Engineering and Development Department to conduct the review with flexibility to cater for possible outcomes of the judicial review, while providing appropriate planning control on the site during the interim period.”
The club filed the judicial review against the director of environmental protection’s conditional approval of an environmental impact assessment report that would pave the way for the flats to be built.
The report earlier determined that 9.5 hectares of the 32 hectares of leased land authorities were taking back from the club were suitable for public housing and that more than 20 hectares with higher ecological value should be conserved.
The club argued that there were mistakes in the way the report was done, saying it hoped the judicial process would ensure procedural justice.
Hong Kong town planning board backs public flats plan at city’s oldest golf club
Hong Kong town planning board backs public flats plan at city’s oldest golf club
In August, the High Court granted an interim stay of the authorities’ decision to conditionally approve the report until the judicial review was decided.
The court also said authorities could proceed with the review of the layout and development intensity of the proposed public housing development at the site on the condition that the review “will not involve any construction work whatsoever at the site, and will not result in any environmental damage at all”.
The board spokesman said: “The court’s decision on the interim stay did not legally prevent the Town Planning Board from proceeding with the hearing and submission of the draft outline zoning plan to the Chief Executive in Council.”
In response to Friday’s decision, the club said maintaining the course’s integrity was “of utmost importance” and that it vehemently opposed the housing plan.
“Although the decision has modified the wording regarding housing construction in the outline planning plan as a recommendation, the club must again emphasise that the golf course has essential historical, ecological, economic and sports values,” a spokesman said.
He said the course would be essential to the LIV Golf league event to be held in the city next March and hoped authorities would retain the site’s original condition to continue serving the public.
In a three-day hearing that ended on Wednesday, the board reviewed 1,903 further representations and oral submissions from about 60 participants, as well as the views and responses of the Planning Department and relevant departments.
The spokesman said the board had taken a “cautious approach in considering the further representations” and factored into the relevant content in the court’s decision.
“The Town Planning Board was aware that the Hong Kong Golf Club had lodged a judicial review against the director of environmental protection’s decision,” he said.
“The long-term use of the site will only be confirmed upon completion of the Civil Engineering and Development Department’s review and the judicial review proceedings.
“Any further rezoning of the site in future will be processed in accordance with the Town Planning Ordinance, and the public will have the opportunity to submit representations.”