January 7, 2018

A north Lantau-Mui Wo transport tunnel is back on the agenda

A road or rail tunnel – or both – linking north Lantau to Mui Wo is back on the planning agenda, nearly two decades after being rejected on environmental grounds.

A CEDD study on residential development at Siu Ho Wan, east of Tung Chung, discusses the options for building one or both tunnels through the Lantau North Country Park to support future population growth.

It says the Siu Ho Wan development on reclaimed land would house more than 9,000 people, while the expansion of Tung Chung is forecast to add another 170,000 in the next ten years.

The study, by engineering firm Ove Arup, says the route of any new north-south transport connections would depend on the design of the East Lantau Metropolis (ELM). (Notably the study began in 2015 while the ELM was still being discussed by LanDAC.)

The report canvasses two railway tunnel routes to Mui Wo – one from Siu Ho Wan and the other from Tung Chung East station, due to come into service in the mid-2020s.

It says the route from Tung Chung East would be the most feasible, with fewer engineering issues, a lower cost and a direct interface into the MTR system.

Two possible rail routes (Source: CEDD)

The study also considers possible road tunnels to Mui Wo, suggesting the most practical point would be adjacent to the sewage treatment works.

But the potential route faces a number of constraints, including archaeological and scientific sites at Tai Ho Wan, the North Lantau Country Park and the marshes and freshwater sources around Mui Wo.

It says that with the extra population in Tung Chung and Siu Ho Wan, traffic volume on the North Lantau Highway would go beyond the “manageable degree of congestion” after 2031.

The contentious HK$400 billion ELM, built on 1000 ha of reclaimed land in the waters between Lantau and Hong Kong Island, will not be ready until at least the mid-2030s.

In 2000, the Transport Bureau recommended building a tunnel from Tai Ho Wan to Mui Wo instead of widening Tung Chung Road, at that point a narrow one-lane road.

In a decision unimaginable today, this was overturned by the-then Director of Environmental Protection and instead the widening of Tung Chung Road went ahead.

As the Transport Bureau explained:

The Siu Ho Wan study follows another CEDD report which examines the options for rail and road links from Tuen Mun through northeast Lantau to the ELM and Hong Kong Island.

Separately, the government is seeking HK$88 million for a feasibility study on a freeway from North Lantau to Yuen Long, a plan derided by opposition law-makers as a way to take vehicles to the ELM rather than fixing New Territories transport congestion.

Photo (top): Tai Ho Wan

January 7, 2018

Lantau-themed creation takes the cake (photo)

What better way to celebrate a Lantau wedding than with a cattle-themed cake?

Village Bakery owner Kit Lau made this fabulous cake for the wedding of Renata Snow and her partner Pierce.

Renata posted on Facebook:

Huge thank you to our Village Bakery superstar Kit Lau for our magnificent Lantau-themed wedding cake today (the largest she’s ever baked – took her a week!). We loved both the appearance and the taste, and so did all our guests!

January 6, 2018

13 injured in N. Lantau Highway bus crash

Thirteen people were hospitalised after a bus carrying a flight crew crashed into a highway maintenance truck on North Lantau Highway yesterday.

The front end of the bus, carrying a foreign flight crew, was seriously damaged after striking the rear of the truck near Siu Ho Wan at 9:30 am.

The bus driver was trapped with leg injuries and had to be freed by firefighters.

The two drivers and 11 passengers were sent to North Lantau and Princess Margaret hospitals.

Photo: NOW TV

January 4, 2018

Landowner flouts law with brick wall around wetland site

The owner of a Pui O wetland site already in breach of several environmental laws has begun building a brick wall around the plot.

Construction of the wall at the site, next to the Pui O beach car park, began on Tuesday.

The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) says its surveillance camera captured fly-tipping – a criminal offence – on the site between November 20 and 23 on the site. The owner applied to the Town Planning Board to change the land use to agriculture on November 27.

The Pui O wetland is zoned Coastal Protection Area under local planning rules, but this carries no enforcement or penalty.

Under the Waste Disposal Ordinance, landowners are allowed to dump landfill on their site if they receive ‘acknowledgement’ from the EPD – but the fly-tipping took place before the ‘acknowledgement.’ Additionally, all landfill dumping is banned from CPA sites.

EPD officials, who visited the site along with Planning Department and Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD) officials last Friday, have ordered the owner to stop landfilling, but have taken no action to enforce their order.

The wall also appears to be in breach of rules that prohibit fixed structures on wetland.

Local residents have filed a complaint to the Ombudsman over the EPD’s unwillingness to use its powers to stop destruction of the site. The complaint states:

EPD have taken no steps to physically stop the landowner by way of injunction or similar legal instrument or by arrest, despite having evidence of a criminal offence. This will result in the destruction of a pristine wetland habitat, the protection of which clearly falls within the jurisdiction of the EPD.

The landfill dumping and wall construction also fly in the face of the government’s own policy.

The Sustainable Lantau Blueprint, issued in June, set down the conservation of the Pui O wetland as one of its environmental priorities.

The report acknowledges the wetland as a valuable ecological and cultural site as well as a crucial buffalo habitat.

January 4, 2018

Transport Dept calls on NLB to cut costs after “not satisfactory” financial result

The Transport Department says it is encouraging New Lantao Bus Co to find ways to cut costs after a first-half result that was “not satisfactory.”

The bus operator, a subsidiary of listed Kwoon Chung Bus Holdings, reported a HK$3.6 million loss in the first six months which it attributed to higher operating costs, including fuel and wages.

However, despite warning earlier in mid-2017 of the need to rationalise services to save money, no cuts were made.

The TD said that after winning the tender to service two new routes to the HK-Macau bridge border crossing, and with new housing developments in Mui Wo and Tung Chung, “it is anticipated that NLB’s financial performance will be improved.”

In a statement, it said it would “encourage NLB to explore measures to control costs with a view to improving its financial performance.”

But while no major rationalisation was required, the department would closely monitor passenger numbers and “implement rationalisation of bus services as and when necessary.”

January 3, 2018

Police warning after $50,000 haul from S. Lantau burglary

Lantau police have warned residents to secure their homes during the holiday season following a New Year break-in that netted thieves goods and cash worth more than HK$50,000.

Burglars entered a San Shek Wan home through an unlocked balcony door to steal HK$7,800 in cash and HK$45,000 in watches and jewellery in the early hours of New Year’s Day.

It is the only robbery over holiday period so far, but police remind residents to keep doors and windows locked.

“Don’t make it easy for thieves. Check that your locks are in good condition and ensure that you lock up at night and whenever you leave the house unattended,” Acting District Commander Kelvin Ho Ka-fai said.

If you have valuables, you may also consider a safe and a home security system, he added.

Police have begun a trial video surveillance system, known as Lantau Eyes, in local villages to deter thieves.

January 2, 2018

Govt study proposes ELM road and rail links through northeast Lantau

A government study has proposed building road and railway links to the East Lantau Metropolis (ELM) through northeast Lantau, apparently abandoning an earlier plan to connect through Tung Chung and Mui Wo.

A report for the Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD) suggests building a ‘District Line’ railway route from Tuen Mun through northeast Lantau to the ELM and then to Hong Kong Island, HK01 reports.

The logical connecting point on Hong Kong Island would be Kennedy Town, the westernmost station on the Island Line. However, the line may not have the capacity, so the alternative would be to build a new station nearby and passengers interchange on foot.

The report also recommends building a road along a similar route, with discussion about where would be the best place to land it on Hong Kong Island.

East Lantau Metropolis (Source: CEDD)

Neither of the studies examines transport links from Mui Wo or Tung Chung.

This contrasts with the Sustainable Lantau Blueprint, issued in June, which envisaged a railway connection from Tuen Mun to Tung Chung, then south to Mui Wo and onwards to the main part of ELM via Hei Ling Chau.

According to the Sustainable Lantau Office, a unit of CEDD, a study into Lantau’s internal and external transport networks is also underway.

Yet these reports are being undertaken before the major study into the ELM has begun.

With an estimated HK$400 billion price tag, the 1000ha reclamation in the central waters would be the biggest project in Hong Kong history.

The government is seeking $249 million in cash from Legco to conduct a technical feasibility study, but it has made no economic analysis of the ELM and has no plans to do so.

The project, which is not due to be completed until mid-2030s at the earliest, is premised on a Hong Kong population of more than 9 million. However, the government’s own forecast is that the population will peak at 8.22 million in 2043 and then start to decline.