Policy Comments & Advocacy

We oppose item A1 (Rezoning of a site to the east of Shek Pai Street from “Green Belt” (“GB”) to “Residential (Group A)3” (“R(A)3”) with stipulation of building height restriction (BHR) of 260 metres above Principal Datum (mPD)) of the entitled draft plan if our grave concerns are not adequately addressed, which are listed as follows.

1. Avoid disturbance to an aggregation site of Danaid butterflies
A site with an aggregation of Danaid butterflies was newly discovered by the research team of the Global Change and Tropical Conservation Lab of the University of Hong Kong at the fringe of Kam Shan Country Park, a location of less than 300m from the application site. Thousands of individuals of Euploea spp. were found aggregating at the site and nectaring from the surrounding vegetation. The site may be of potential importance to future overwintering Danaid butterflies probably of regional importance, and whether the future high-density development with the building height restriction of 260m mpd would affect habitat suitability or impede butterfly migration is still unknown. We opine that thorough ecological assessment should be conducted to avoid any disturbance to all sensitive habitats before the amendment of zonings and such development plans are implemented.

2. Protection of the buffering Green Belt Zone and the neighbouring Country Park
The rezoning may trigger establishment of future access from the application site to the neighbouring Green Belt (GB) zones or even to the nearby country park area, which is not uncommon in other suburban area in Hong Kong. The GB zone should act as an effective buffer to protect the existing natural environment including the country park area. We urge that the authority should guarantee no such vehicular access (be it legal or illegal) and associated vandalism or development would arise from the application site or further encroach the countryside before the rezoning process is put forward

3. Protection of public health from electric and magnetic fields from power line systems
The application site is in close proximity to an existing power line system, with the eastern edgeof the site being only around 50m from the nearest power line. The rezoning should not beapproved unless the authority could provide evidence that electric and magnetic fields emanatedfrom the power line system exert no health effects on future residents.

We would like to emphasize that housing needs should not be put into a binary opposition withthe security of environmental and public health, and that the former should be addressed by soundand prudent planning processes involving critical assessment on environmental and public healthimpacts.

Thank you very much for your attention. For any inquiries, please contact the undersigned atGreen Power (T: 3961 0200, F: 2314 2661, Email: elaine@greenpower.org.hk).