Review ecological values of country parks: think tank

A think tank has urged the government to review the ecological value of country parks and green belts in order to see if any of them can be used to resolve Hong Kong’s housing supply shortage.

In a report released on Monday, Our Hong Kong Foundation said since the government first proposed the Long Term Housing Strategy in 2013, the number of completions each year had failed to meet the target. The cumulative shortfall of private and public housing has reached 120,000 units.

“To fill the supply gap, a total of 300,000 units are needed, or an average of 60,000 units per year,” the report wrote.

The foundation called on the government to expedite the completion of 120,000 units ahead of schedule by 2025 through cutting red tape and streamlining the development process.

It pointed that country parks and green belts take up 67 percent of total land area in Hong Kong, far more than London and Singapore. It called upon the government to review their ecological value, and use those which fail to meet the criteria for building homes.

“Currently, much of the 1,000 hectares of the ‘Wetland Buffer Area’ has lost their original ecological functions. Therefore, we suggest the government to expeditiously review the planning for the Wetland Buffer Area, taking into account the need to balance conservation and development,” the report stated.

The think tank pointed that current land and housing development procedures are burdened by various obstacles linked to repetitive consultations, duplicate regulations, and inconsistent or unclear approval standards, which resulted in lengthy housing development periods. 

It was proposed that the government must take decisive measures to reduce unnecessary or repetitive public consultations and supervision, and strengthen inter-departmental coordination. 

Ryan Ip, Head of Land and Housing Research of the foundation, said 23 suggestions were proposed in view of the proposal, including reducing the time for Environmental Impact Assessment investigation.

“For large-scale development projects…we advocate the government commencing the detailed designs, land resumption, and site formation works of each phase in parallel,” said Ip.

Ip also said that the government should proceed with reclamation works and town planning procedures simultaneously when dealing with reclamation projects, instead of preparing the Outline Zoning Plan for superstructure development first before commencing reclamation.