Govt's plan for public housing construction faces judicial review by Hong Kong Golf Club

The Hong Kong Golf Club (HKGC) alleged that the government failed to consult the public adequately before approving the environmental impact assessment (EIA) report on redeveloping Fanling Golf Course into public housing.

This came after the judicial review hearing started at the High Court on Thursday after HKGC sought to overturn the decision made by the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) to conditionally approve the "Technical Study on Partial Development of Fanling Golf Course Site" submitted by the Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD) on May 11 last year.

The court earlier decided to grant an interim stay of the decision of the Director of Environmental Protection to approve the report, but made it clear that CEDD would not be prevented from conducting the review on housing density and layout to fulfill the approval conditions of the EIA report.

Represented by senior counsel Benjamin Yu Yuk-hoi, HKGC noted that it is unfair for EPD to leave out the opinions of the public and approve the report with preconceived notions.

Yu noted that EPD did not launch a public consultation on the supplementary documents submitted by CEDD before conditionally approving the report.

He claimed that the procedural deficiency compromised fairness and explained there are statutory requirements for public consultation that cannot be disregarded.

Yu said the EIA report should encompass all necessary elements of the proposed project, as administrative efficiency is just one goal rather than a priority, which means public opinions should not be overlooked.

He noted that the EIA report seriously underestimates the golf course's ecological and environmental value, as up to 80 potential old and valuable trees were unregistered.

HKGC has requested the government to evaluate the potential valuable trees at the site, and the research summary also stipulated that CEDD should evaluate them, he added.

“But the department wrote in the Environmental Impact Assessment that there are no registered valuable trees within the site, therefore it does not fit into the requirement of a research summary,” Yu said.

The trial is expected to span for three days.