I believe Lantau should be protected as a green jewel in the Pearl River Delta; this will be in tandem with promises made by the Hong Kong government since the 1970s.
Here’s an email I’ve sent to Legco Planning Lands and Works Panel, re perhaps appearing before them to give some views on proposed Lantau projects (at meeting some time in June). Gives pithy summary of my views.
Also sent to legislators Emily Lau and Choy So Yuk, who have expressed some interest in Lantau developments.
[update] – As HK Outdoors isn’t an organisation, I rather doubted I’d be invited; yet I promptly received a formal invitation.
I’d certainly be interested in your opinions; there’s link from this article to forums, where you could post comments. I may also mention any comments (likewise comments posted to the Keep Lantau Beautiful petition I posted on this site) during the panel meeting
I am writing to express interest in presenting views on the Lantau Concept Plan to the Legco Planning Lands and Works Panel.
I am founder and webmaster of Hong Kong Outdoors, a website focused on enjoying and protecting wild Hong Kong.
I believe Lantau should be protected as a green jewel in the Pearl River Delta; this will be in tandem with promises made by the Hong Kong government since the 1970s.
Protected in this way, Lantau will be a massive asset for people living in Hong Kong – a place to escape the stresses of city life.
It can also help Hong Kong’s tourism; helping give tourists far more variety than the current staples of city, shopping and dining.
Yes, the Concept Plan does mention protection of much of Hong Kong; but I am extremely concerned that the main projects in the plan, coupled with the proposed container terminal, will ruin and transform the north coast – making it more akin to Kwai Chung – as well as leading to impacts on the rest of Lantau and, indeed, Hong Kong as a whole.
Further, while I believe it certain that the container port and concept plan projects will cause irreversible environmental damage, I see no substantial evidence that they will prove economically beneficial.
The Pearl River Delta already has its share of environmentally damaging, economic white elephants – indeed, here in Hong Kong we have Cyberport, for instance.
We surely don’t need more such schemes.
Instead, I believe we should treasure Lantau – surely one of the finest islands in all China – and conserve it for people today, and for future generations.
Best regards,
Dr Martin Williams
PS – I’m attaching the Hong Kong Outdoors response to the Concept Plan for Lantau