Posted by Tessa, moved into this long-running forum topic. Quite a number of Lammaites will be joining this TPB meeting:

By Email [5-2951 to 5-3040]

Dear Sir/Madam,
Comment on Various Lots and adjoining Government land in D.D. 7 and D.D.9, Tung O, Lamma Island

(Planning Application No. Y/I-LI/1)

Your comment on the captioned planning application was received by the Town Planning Board (the TPB) on 13 October 2011. The application is tentatively scheduled for consideration by the TPB on 2 December 2011.

In accordance with the Town Planning Ordinance, the TPB will, make available your comment for public inspection at the Planning Enquiry Counters (PECs) of the Planning Department (Hotline : 2231 5000 ) at 17/F, North Point Government Offices, 333 Java Road, North Point; 14/F, Sha Tin Government Offices, 1 Sheung Wo Che Road, Sha Tin until the application is considered by the TPB.

Please note that the meeting for considering planning applications, except the deliberation parts, will be open to the public. The agenda of the meeting is available at the PECs and the TPB’s website four days before the meeting. The paper for consideration of the TPB in relation to the application will be available for public inspection at the PECs after issue to TPB Members; and at the Public Viewing Room on the day of meeting. If you wish to observe the meeting, please reserve seat with us by telephone ( 2231 5061 ), fax (2877 0245 or 2522 8426 ) or e-mail (tpbpd@pland.gov.hk) at least one day before the meeting. Seats will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.

After the TPB has considered the application, you may enquire about the decision at tel. no. 2231 4810 or 2231 4835 or view the gist of the decision at the TPB’s website (www.info.gov.hk/tpb/), the PECs after the meeting. You can also access to the detailed decision as recorded in the minutes of meeting by the same means after confirmation of the minutes, normally two weeks after the meeting.
(Miss Loretta LUK)
for Secretary, Town Planning Board

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SCMP, Letters to the Editor, Wednesday, November 16, 2011

In response to Chi Fai Cheung’s article “Project threatens Lamma marine life”, SCMP November, 14.

In South Lamma a small developer, King Wong, bought cheap agricultural land, then joined forces with a mainland developer, Agile Property Holdings, to seek a land- use rezoning that would enable them to build a luxury development ridiculously named “The Baroque on Lamma”. It comprises of 850 residential units, commercial facilities, a resort hotel, a car park for 135 private cars, trucks, 16 taxis and 20 coaches (on an island where there are no roads for cars!) and a 500-berth marina for super-yachts.

We urge the Town Planning Board to reject this application as incompatible with the statutory land use planning framework for South Lamma, where two Sites of Special Scientific Interest are home to endangered species.
Hong Kong should treasure and protect a rich and yet fragile eco-system, instead of falling for yet another developer’s sleight of hand.

The Baroque developers claim to be fulfilling Hong Kong’s shortage of berthing facilities, but if that is indeed the case, there are more suitable locations to build a marina without destroying marine life. Not only the Baroque developers wrote a siren’s song aimed at yacht owners, they are also waxing lyrical about building a “new town” in harmony with the environment and propose a “conservation corridor”.

Nature cannot be channeled into a narrow corridor and no amount of green-washing will change this inconvenient truth. Hong Kong will be poorer due to the loss of an area of outstanding natural beauty and ecological value, enjoyed by Hong Kong citizens and visitors alike, regardless of their income.

Furthermore, there is no guarantee that Agile Holdings will deliver the Sardinian heaven its architect conjured up with his Powerpoint presentation. On 27 October, an article in the SCMP Property section, stated that Agile Holdings had reached only 64.1% of its full-year target of 37 billion Yuan. It also has heavy exposure in Guangzhou and Shanghai, property markets that are struggling after the Central government introduced cooling measures. This means that Agile Holdings is currently under pressure and a change of land status means that it will be free to sell development rights to the highest bidder and rake in a nice profit.

PS. They edited out the last sentence

"The Baroque on Lamma’s recently appointed CEO, Mr. CHENG Yan-kee, sits on the Town Planning Board and is a member of the Rural and New Town Planning Committee, let’s hope responsible board members ignore his lobbying efforts. The future of Lamma depends on their integrity!"

Are there really so many people detached from reality as implied by these forums?

OCCUPY TUNG O!!!

DON'T GO BAROQUE!!

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Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
----- Margaret Mead

Agile halts land purchases and slows building
Citing an unfriendly market, Guangdong developer expects to scale back operations in next three months
Bloomberg and Yvonne Liu
Nov 26, 2011

Agile Property Holdings (SEHK: 3383), a mainland developer based in Guangdong, suspended land acquisitions and slowed construction work on some projects because of poor market conditions.

"We have put a full stop on land purchases," Alex Liu, vice-president of Agile Property, told Bloomberg News. "We'll stop for at least the next three months." He added that the company will assess the situation again after the Lunar New Year.

It would also stop or reduce the scale of some of its ongoing projects to lower its expenditure on construction, he said.

Agile currently owns a land bank of 32 million square metres. The company bought four sites with a total gross floor area of 609,000 square metres for 1.5 billion yuan (HK$1.9 billion) in the first half of the year.

Research by property agency Weiye Woaiwojia has reported that the top-10 developers with the highest property sales spent more than 66 billion yuan in land acquisitions from January to October, 42 per cent less than a year earlier.

These include China Vanke, Poly Real Estate, China Overseas Holdings, Evergrande Real Estate, Greenland Group, Greentown, Country Garden Holdings, Longfor Group, Agile and Guangzhou R&F Properties.

"During a tight market, you need to sell for cash flow, and when the market is hot, you sell for profit," Liu said.

"Right now we're selling some leftovers from some projects at reduced prices, but the ones that we sold earlier have already given the projects very good return."

Agile is aiming to build up its cash reserves so it can begin buying land at discounted prices after winter, said Liu.

"But that won't happen soon," he added. "It will have to wait at least until home transactions pick up first."

The developer has set a target of generating 37 billion yuan from property sales this year.

"There'll be some difficulties for us to meet that target at the current market conditions," Liu said, declining to give a revised sales target.

The developer has expanded to cities outside Guangdong province. Liu said it planned to build a resort project in Yunnan, with an initial investment of 1.5 billion to 2 billion yuan.

Mainland property sales dropped sharply this year because of a series of cooling measures imposed by the government. Developers began to cut their asking prices on new projects to lure buyers in recent months.

Research by Home Link Estate Agency indicated there are more than 20 new projects in 10 major cities in which developers promised buyers that they would be compensated or the units would be bought back at the original cost if prices were cut later, the Beijing Morning Post reported.

yvonne.liu@scmp.com