Category: Environment
After Golden Week failure, LCSD vows ‘action’ against illegal campers
After its embarrassing failure over illegal beach camping during last week’s holiday, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) says it has referred the issue to other departments for “action.”
But in an email reply to Lantau News, the department did not explain why no action was taken during Golden Week, when campers at Pui O and elsewhere spilled over onto the beach.
Incidents at Pui O, Mui Wo and Cheung Chau’s Tung Wan captured wide media attention, with some noting that mainland tourists were using the popular Pui O campsite as a cheap hotel and others pointing to the failure of authorities to act. At Silvermine Bay, a local stallholder, Mr Chan, complained to Apple Daily about tourists littering and using the sea as a toilet.
In response, LCSD director Michelle Li Mei-sheung called on people to “comply with the law” – but did not elaborate on how her department would enforce the law.
However, department has vowed to increase patrols of Islands district beaches “as necessary.”
Spot the breach
In contrast to its passivity over breaches of camping regulations, which threaten public hygiene and beach ecology, the government has been energetic in laying down the law against live music. The Hidden Agenda venue has been raided by the Lands, Immigration, Food and Environmental Hygiene and Fire Services Departments.
The LCSD says setting up a tent or any structure on one of the city’s 41 gazetted beaches is an offence incurring a penalty of up to 14 days’ prison and HK$2000 fine.
“No camping is allowed outside the camping areas as designated by the management for safety reasons. Camping on any of the bathing beaches, including Pui O Beach, is a violation of the Bathing Beaches Regulation.
No-camping notices have been posted up at all nine bathing beaches in the Islands District, and patrols will be stepped up as necessary.
It says it has set aside 54 camping bays in Pui O for advanced booking by local residents. The other sites are available on a first-come first-serve basis.
The Pui O camping ground has become a regular site of controversy during mainland holiday periods. It is featured on mainland travel forums as a low-cost alternative to hotels and some tour companies lead tours there. Four years ago police were forced to intervene after a small riot broke out as campers quarreled over limited spaces and food.
Tung Chung reclamation: Govt seeks $21b, green group warns of threats
The government is pushing ahead with plans to build 40,000 new apartments on reclaimed land in Tung Chung Bay – but a green group has called for the project to be scaled back by a third.
The Development Bureau is seeking HK$20.6 billion from Legco for the 120ha reclamation. A second stage will involve reclaiming a further 80ha. The projects are part of the Tung Chung New Town Extension plan which aims to add another 120,000 homes in the area by 2030. Continue reading
Developer seeks approval for caravan park in Coastal Protection Area
The Town Planning Board is weighing an application for a caravan park already in operation in Cheung Sha.
A company called Well Power Investment Development Ltd has sought permission to place nine caravans on former Palm Beach site for three years and to build supporting facilities including a toilet, a storage area and a kiosk.
The site covers 3,016 square metres, of which 85% is designated Coastal Protection Area (CPA)., and applies to lots 62, 63, 64, 65, 66 S.B, 66 RP and 67 in D.D.331. The remainder is government land.
One of the directors of the company is Chan Shekmou, an indigenous resident of South Lantau, according to a company registry search by Apple Daily. It says the caravans will be placed on stone and will not impact on the vegetation and argues that the proposal is consistent with the government’s ambitions to make South Lantau a tourist zone.
If approved, it would not be the first caravan park in South Lantau. A site in Tong Fuk with six caravans has been operating since 2014.
Hong Kong government’s has been been identifying sites as Coastal Protection Areas since the early 1980s in order to preserve sensitive environment and natural coastlines.
However, outside the Town Planning Ordinance, protection for CPA-designated sites is not enforced.
The Town Planning Board has set a tentative date of April 7 to discuss the application. Deadline for comments is March 10.
Truck owner fined $6000 over Pui O waste dumping
Pui O (file photo)
In yet another failed attempt to protect Hong Kong’s environmental assets, a truck owner has been fined just HK$6000 over the dumping of waste in Pui O.
The owner, who has not been identified, was convicted over not revealing the name of the driver.
Under the Waste Disposal Ordinance, the offence of not providing information without reasonable cause carries a penalty of up to HK$100,000 – 15 times the fine levied by the Eastern Magistrates Court on Monday. Continue reading
There’s money in eco-tourism: Ngong Ping 360 shows how
Here’s a reminder that Lantau’s natural beauty and ecosystem are tourism’s best friend, not its enemy as the government and supporters seem to believe.
The Tamil Grass Dart, one of Ngong Ping’s ‘three treasures’
Ngong Ping 360 is running a butterfly-themed family promotion over the summer, taking advantage of the presence of Lantau’s 100-plus butterflies species. As well as butterfly-watching, there’s a workshop on taking wildlife photos, another on “butterfly art” a dance performance, and so on.
“We would also like visitors to understand the ecology of Lantau so that they may treasure the natural environment even more,” said Ngong Ping 360 marketing head Vivien Lee. Continue reading
CY Leung under fire over Lantau cleanup
Hong Kong leader CY Leung is under fire from multiple directions for his beach cleanup exercise on South Lantau yesterday.
A team of around 60 government cleaning contractors was hired early Sunday morning to collect and sort the trash at Shui Hau ahead of the arrival of Leung and his 70-strong party of senior bureaucrats, according to local activist Ho Loy. Continue reading
CY Leung burnishes green credentials with Lantau beach clean-up
For the second time in less than a month, senior SAR officials have converged on Lantau to collect beach trash.
This morning CY Leung himself led a team of 70 officials that collected 1.35 tonnes of rubbish from Cheung Sha and Shui Hau, RTHK reported. Leung said they had been inspired by the efforts of local residents.
As a minder looks on, CY Leung and Wong Kam-sing make themselves useful. Source: HK Government
Wetlands dumping not a problem: AFCD official
An AFCD official has claimed that rubbish dumping on Pui O wetland is not “significant” because it covers a small area.
Source: LBA
In an email exchange with local community members over yet another incident of dumping in Pui O, an official said:
While the dumping activity has affected about 120 m.sq. of abandoned agricultural field, it is considered that the potential ecological impact to Pui O area as a whole is unlikely to be significant in view of the relatively small size of the area affected.
Lantau development will bring “uncontrollable eco-vandalisms”
This blog has finally got around to trawling through the submissions to the LegCo hearing on Lantau development in April. First up: environmental groups warn the government’s development programme will lead to “uncontrollable eco-vandalisms” because of the lack of zoning protections and weak enforcement.
In a joint submission, five green NGOs say they are “deeply concerned” by the development-centric model that does not provide adequate protection for important conservation sites.
They point out that the island has “exceptionally rich biodiversity,” including the Chinese White Dolphin, the finless porpoise, and Romer’s Tree Frog, among others.
However, the deficiency in enforcement capabilities due to loopholes in existing legislation has rendered Lantau vulnerable to environmental vandalism.
Lantau development will bring ‘uncontrollable eco-vandalisms’
This blog has finally got around to trawling through the submissions to the LegCo hearing on Lantau development in April. First up: environmental groups warn the government’s development programme will lead to “uncontrollable eco-vandalisms” because of the lack of zoning protections and weak enforcement.
In a joint submission, five green NGOs say they are “deeply concerned” by the development-centric model that does not provide adequate protection for important conservation sites.
They point out that the island has “exceptionally rich biodiversity,” including the Chinese White Dolphin, the finless porpoise and Romer’s Tree Frog, among others. “However, the deficiency in enforcement capabilities due to loopholes in existing legislation has rendered Lantau vulnerable to environmental vandalism,” they warn.
This is because, under the Hong Kong approach to land use and conservation, a site can only be protected if it is designated as a development site, known as a Development Permission Area (DPA). To give a prominent example: the South Lantau Coast Outline Zoning Plan (OZP) was published in 1980 yet has not been covered by a DPA plan.
As a result, eco-vandalism has been proliferating with impunity on private land, including ecologically important wetlands in Pui O. With such a loophole in statutory control under the Town Planning Ordinance, the future economic activities stimulated by the proposed developments and the ease of access caused by the relaxation of closed roads would lead to uncontrollable eco-vandalisms and further encroachment on unspoiled natural habitats.
The paper lists 16 species or habitats that are of conservation concern, including Yam O and Sunny Bay wetlands, Tung Chung Valley, Tung Chung Bay, the northwest Lantau coast and Tai O.
It says areas without statutory protection should be designated with DPAs or incorporated into the Country Park system “without delay” because of the imminent development pressure. DPAs should be applied urgently to rural areas already covered by OZPs, such as the Pui O wetlands.
The five NGOs – Designing Hong Kong, Green Power, Hong Kong Bird Watching Society, The Conservancy Association and WWF Hong Kong – also call for the continued enforcement of South Lantau’s closed roads, urging the adoption of public and environmental-friendly transport rather than private cars.
Any new roads should be well justified, assessed (in the context of environmental impacts and cost effectiveness) and publicly consulted. Green Groups opine that no new roads should be planned in Country Parks, South Lantau and Tung Chung Bay, and near or in other ecological important sites.
They also urge the establishment the West Lantau Marine Park in the waters off Yi O and Tai O to connect all the Marine Parks around Lantau. This would reduce the impact on dolphins of the rush of development projects by safeguarding their remaining habitats and preserving travelling corridors.
The submission was endorsed by 21 other NGOs, including Ark Eden, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace East Asia and Living Islands Movement.
Lantau Confidential 