The 170-hectare Fanling Golf Course, of which 32 hectares of land will be returned to the government in September next year.
According to the latest documents submitted by the authorities to the North District Council, the Hong Kong government proposes to zone about 9.5 hectares of land for high-density residential purposes in the future, and build about 12,000 public housing units, including public rental housing or HOS flats. 33,600 people and is expected to be completed in 2029.
According to the plan, the population of the large golf course site will be concentrated in the north, and about 67% of the land, or about 21.65 hectares of land, will be designated as conservation areas to preserve the existing natural landscape and ecology.
The Hong Kong government explained that according to technical research, the southern part of the land has plant and animal species with conservation value, such as the East Asian porcupine, red deer, leopard cat, etc.; and in the southernmost part, there are natural swamps with high ecological value and swamp forests.
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The District Council document pointed out that the northernmost part of the site east of Fan Kam Road at Fanling Golf Course is close to the Fanling/Sheung Shui new town.
According to the technical study and the ecological impact assessment, the ecological value of this area is relatively low.
The technical study therefore considers that the proposed public housing development should be limited to the northernmost portion of the site east of Fan Kam Road at Fanling Golf Course.
The area proposed by the authorities for public housing development is about 8 hectares. The plot ratio of the residential part will not exceed 6.5 times, and it will not be higher than 170 meters above the main horizontal benchmark.
Proposed special school
At the same time, the government proposes to use about 9 hectares of land in this 32-hectare area for public housing and government, institutional or community development.
The technical study suggests that in addition to the 8 hectares of land for public housing development, about 1 hectare of land can be reserved for the construction of a special school.
The scale of the proposed 12 buildings to house 33,000 people is expected to be comparable to Queen's Hill
According to the preliminary planning blueprint, the proposed public housing location is opposite to Cheung Lung Wai Village in Sheung Shui. 12 residential buildings will be built, providing a maximum of 12,000 units, and it is expected to accommodate about 33,600 people.
The ground floor of 7 of the buildings will be attached with social welfare facilities, community halls, public transport interchanges, retail facilities, kindergartens, etc. The project will also construct a social welfare facility building on Binggang Road.
According to the document, the planning can match the design layout of the Fanling/Sheung Shui new town, and the newly built public housing can be regarded as an extension of the new town.
According to the document, it is hoped that after the land is returned to the government in September next year, construction can be started as soon as possible to strive for the completion of public housing in 2029.
Looking through the information, the authorities' public housing and HOS development plan on Queen's Hill in Fanling has about 12,000 units. The housing plan for the golf course site is expected to be similar in scale to that of Queen's Hill.
The ecological value of the southern part of the land is relatively high. It is recommended to preserve it but it can be used for suitable recreational and sports purposes.
However, the document also pointed out that there are plant and animal species of conservation value in the southern part of the land concerned, as well as forests and animal habitats of ecological value, such as East Asian porcupines, barking deer, leopard cats, civet cats, red-bellied squirrels and civet cats The overall ecological value is rated as medium; while the southernmost part has natural swamps and swamp forests, and the overall ecological value is rated as medium to high.
The technical study pointed out that due to the high ecological value of the land in the south of the public housing development area, it is recommended to be used as a conservation area for nature conservation and public recreation and sports purposes, and pointed out that the relevant land can be used for suitable recreation and sports after the implementation of mitigation measures use without serious negative impact on its ecological environment.
Lawmaker Lau Kwok-hsun.
(File photo/Photo by Su Weiran)
Lau Kwok-hsun, a member of the New Territories North Legislative Council of the DAB, expects that the relevant documents will be handed over to the District Council and the Town Planning Board in June.
He said that the golf course land will be handed over to the government in September next year, and the government has planned to build public housing, but the environmental assessment recommends that only 9 hectares in the northern part of the 32 hectares of land can be developed, and the plot ratio should be increased to build 12,000 units public housing.
Liu Guoxun said that the 12,000 units will bring about 33,000 people, who are concentrated in the northern part of the development area, and the residential density is very high.
The development area is located at the bottleneck of the traffic congestion in the North District, between Tai Tau Leng Roundabout, Jiling Roundabout and Fan Kam Highway. We are worried that the current planning will aggravate the pressure on nearby traffic.
Lau Kwok-hsun: I'm worried that the two roundabouts nearby are overloaded
Liu Guoxun further pointed out that a number of projects have been carried out nearby, including the expansion project of the North District Hospital, and two private residential projects, together with public housing projects in other areas of Sheung Shui, resulting in an increase of 20,000 units and 60,000-70,000 units in the area. The population would overload the two roundabouts that were already congested.
The government expects public housing on the golf course site to be occupied by 2029, but has not made specific plans to improve transport.
He believes that in order to develop a golf course to accommodate a population of 30,000, it is necessary to have comprehensive planning and infrastructure first, and proposes to improve the capacity of the two roundabouts and widen the Fan Kam Highway.
Fanling Golf Course land used for building public housing has increased to more than 10,000 units. Details on Lantau Tomorrow will be unveiled at the end of next year. Fanling Golf Course will only receive 32 hectares after three years of group approval. Among them, 32 hectares will be "returned to the government" after three years to build a public housing Fanling Golf Course. The 32-hectare land is renewed for a symbolic 1 yuan short-term lease for 3 years. Two new deeds take time