Designing Hong Kong E-Newsletter: Sunday, 06 July 2008

Another car park on the harbour-front (they did it again!)

In November 2007, the Harbour-front Enhancement Committee was briefed by the Government, and subsequently supported, the temporary land allocation for outdoor theatre performances "Zingaro-Battuta" at the reclamation site next to the Hung Hom ferry pier.

On July 6, the South China Morning Post carried a short article on page 6 of the POST MAGAZINE reporting as follows:

The plot thickens. Next to Hung Hom ferry terminal is a three-hectare plot that offers exceptional views of Hong Kong Island. This year, it was used by Zingaro, an equestrian circus troupe from France, and for a few weeks the land had some cultural value for the densely populated neighbourhood. Since then, access to the waterfront has been blocked and the government-owned site has been surrounded by a forbidding fence. There are plans to build two 30-storey buildings there but that is not scheduled to happen for a while. Thus residents were excited when temporary construction began on the site several weeks ago. They imagined a park or some other kind of leisure facility that allow them to enjoy the extraordinary vistas. What they got was a temporary parking lot for tour buses. The government dumped bitumen on the site and reinforced the fence to ensure nobody without a 60-seater coach could get near the waterfront. That's the kind of madness that gives our urban planners such a bad name. (Daniel Jeffreys)

Converting ever more harbour-front areas into car parks demonstrates that the Government has no commitment to fixing the waterfront. This change in temporary land use for Hung Hom was never discussed in the Harbour-front Enhancement Committee. And there would certainly have been no support for making it a car park.

The questions we are now asking:

1. Is fixing the harbour-front an agreed Government policy?

2. What is the mechanism for management of the harbour-front?

3. Who is coordinating Government departments?

If the mailing doesn't display correct, click here to read the online version


	Another car park on the harbour-front (they did it again!) In November 2007, the Harbour-front Enhancement Committee was briefed by the Government, and subsequently supported, the temporary land allocation for outdoor theatre performances "Zingaro-Battuta" at the reclamation site next to the Hung Hom ferry pier. On July 6, the South China Morning Post carried a short article on page 6 of the POST MAGAZINE reporting as follows: The plot thickens. Next to Hung Hom ferry terminal is a three-hectare plot that offers exceptional views of Hong Kong Island. This year, it was used by Zingaro, an equestrian circus troupe from France, and for a few weeks the land had some cultural value for the densely populated neighbourhood. Since then, access to the waterfront has been blocked and the government-owned site has been surrounded by a forbidding fence. There are plans to build two 30-storey buildings there but that is not scheduled to happen for a while. Thus residents were excited when temporary construction began on the site several weeks ago. They imagined a park or some other kind of leisure facility that allow them to enjoy the extraordinary vistas. What they got was a temporary parking lot for tour buses. The government dumped bitumen on the site and reinforced the fence to ensure nobody without a 60-seater coach could get near the waterfront. That's the kind of madness that gives our urban planners such a bad name. (Daniel Jeffreys) *Converting* ever more harbour-front areas into car parks demonstrates that the Government has no commitment to fixing the waterfront. This change in temporary land use for Hung Hom was never discussed in the Harbour-front Enhancement Committee. And there would certainly have been no support for making it a car park. The questions we are now asking: 1. Is fixing the harbour-front an agreed Government policy? 2. What is the mechanism for management of the harbour-front? 3. Who is coordinating Government departments?