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http://interlocals.net/?q=node/377

this is a detailed analysis of the first round of objections to the Baroque.

The most interesting part is who supports the development:

Supporting view: Lamma Island needs rapid development
When going through the some 60 comments, most letters were sent via organization. For example, both Lamma Island (North) Rural Committee and (South) Rural Committee supported the development of Tung O. South Rural Committee said in the letter, “Development plan…is a rare opportunity for co-existence of development and conservation of Lamma Island”. The committee also attached a support letter with a list of all members. Companies which have business in Lamma Island also support the development such as a Restaurant in Sok Kwu Wan, yacht sales company, Tsui Wah Ferry, etc. Hong Kong and Kowloon Ferry (HKKF) is the most active one. It runs a number of Lamma Island ferry routes and sent support letters to the Board in the name of five separate companies, including Hong Kong and Kowloon Travel Co Ltd., Shing Wing company, Islands Ferry Company Ltd, Hong Kong and Kowloon Ferry Holdings Ltd and HKKF (see below, letters head of five companies were using HKKF’s sign)

A study of marine life and the ecosystems off Lamma's southeast coast finds it to be in surprisingly good shape, with a few rare species also discovered. Perhaps surprisingly this report also gets some coverage in the local Chinese media.

Report in today's SCMP:

Project 'threatens' Lamma marine life

Environmental groups find fragile underwater ecosystem off island's southeastern coast, where developers plan 850 homes and massive marina
Cheung Chi-fai
Updated on Nov 14, 2011


A huge property development planned for Lamma Island's southeastern coast could destroy one of the last remaining untouched marine ecosystems in Hong Kong, according to an undersea survey of the area.
The study found large schools of fish and horseshoe crabs on the seabed, as well as soft corals and sea cucumbers on boulders off the rocky coast where a developer wants to build a luxury villa and a marina.

The survey by the Eco-Education & Resources Centre and Green Power suggests the coast has promising marine resources, but that even the slightest development would likely upset the undersea ecology.

The green groups are urging the Town Planning Board to reject the proposal, named Baroque on Lamma, at a meeting on December 2 to scrutinise a land-use rezoning request from the developers.

The luxury residential and marina project, situated near a conservation area, was rejected by development and planning officials last year. The developers are now proposing an amended plan.

The HK$10 billion project would occupy more than 26 hectares of land and provide about 850 residential units. It would consume 43 hectares of water for 500 yacht berths, 50 residential units, a yacht club and commercial facilities.

The project is a joint venture between Agile Property Holdings, a Hong Kong-listed company that usually focuses on mainland real estate, and local company King Wong Development.

A spokeswoman for Baroque on Lamma said the company would address concerns about marine life in its detailed environmental impact assessment. It also said a marine breakwater and other structures to be built in the sea would act like artificial reefs, providing habitat for marine organisms and attracting fish.

"BOL will be a showcase of how new development can co-exist with the natural environment," she said. In a project profile submitted to the Environmental Protection Department, the developers, backed by Agile, said the area had relatively little value as a fishery.

However, the environmentalists reached a different conclusion after four dives between May and October this year along a 200-metre stretch of coast. They found a school of up to 100 chicken grunts and another group of 30 juvenile mangrove red snappers. The divers also found a mature, 50cm daisy parrotfish, a species that has become extremely rare in Hong Kong.

"There was only one recorded instance of this fish here - found in the Ninepin Islands - in the past seven years," said the centre's Ken Ching Sze-hoi.

Other surprises included a yellowbar sandperch - the first recorded in Hong Kong - and a 20cm juvenile horseshoe crab, the first such sighting in the area.

Ching said the property development would probably create light pollution that could confuse endangered green sea turtles returning to nearby Sham Wan beach to lay eggs.

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Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.

Guess its time to tell AGile King Wong where to go and its not Lamma.

The whole thing is disgusting and its extremely surprising they'd even think of it, but then this is HK and there are plenty of greedy bastards out there.