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In todays SCMP....

Monday, February 16, 2004
Lamma road plan approved

ELAINE WU
A scaled-down plan to allow emergency vehicles road access on Lamma Island has been approved by environmentalists and community members, the district council was told last week.

The scheme provides for a walkway by the water as well as a road in Yung Shue Wan that would give emergency vehicles access to the island's helipad. There would also be space for open-air restaurants and cafes.

The original plan was halved to 0.4 from 0.8 hectares after meetings with the concerned groups from September to November. But the proposed completion date of 2010 has annoyed district councillors on the island. They are concerned the date is so far in the future and worry about how emergency cases will be handled before then.

One councillor said the future of the project was in doubt, given the government's financial troubles.

The first phase of the project, completed in 2002, built a ferry pier and garbage depot on a 1.2 hectare site. There are plans to build a police station and a recreational facility as well.

Phyllis Li, a district planning officer with the Planning Department, said the new plan had received support from the Rural Committee and Save Lamma Campaign, the environmental group that had opposed the plans for the original $12 million project.

Be nice if someone told us just what this plan is we are all supposed to have approved.

Thanks for the article Richard


Puts a new spin on 'drive through' and takeaways now, doesn't it?

Thanks for that article, Richard!

This sounds pretty different from what I've heard last from Save Lamma!
Let me find out from them right now. I'll also ask Alex Chan and Ms Yu...

All I know so far: There was a monthly Outlying Islands District Council meeting last Monday, Feb 9. One of the discussion points on the agenda was something called "revised land use of the 2nd phase harbour reclamation in Yung Shue Wan".
The meeting notes haven't been translated yet by the govt. and made available, it might take several weeks...

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or maybe it'll take a few of Samsons' seconds??

G..

I've got several comments back already from Save Lamma, within just a few hours.

This seems to have been quite a badly researched story in the SCMP with a lot of distortions and half-truths. The story refers ONLY to the 2nd phase of the harbour reclamation, not the proposed Ring Road through the Yung Shue Long valley, by the way, as some suspected.

The reporter obviously also didn't speak to anybody in Save Lamma at all, who were quite surprised by the story as well. They said that they had supported the general idea of providing a waterfront walkway suitable for pedestrian and EVA use, although they still have considerable reservations about how the detailed plan will be handled. See new plan in another topic in this forum.

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This will be exactly what will happen: sell the idea to the public that there has been a compromise and a deal struck so that all parties are happy...blah...blah...blah, but these different "phases" directed from Beijing via HK that will aim to diffuse and eventually water down the rich local culture we have on Lamma will move seripticiously towards manifestation. To them there are too many "nooks and crannies" here that must be exposed and removed so no one can hide. But Lammanites know that it's the natural flow of Lamma is what gives it its charm. To bulldoze down trees and destroy nature in certain areas in a way that shows violence and a complete lack of insight is what will characterize this extended harbour project.

I would suggest that perhaps there's a way we could liaise with Lammadonna to provide "on-the-ground" direction/advice for those following the plans filtered down from the gov't. One side on me thinks this is a waste of time but it could also be a way for our MP to swing his dick and have a voice. It's also a manifestation of democracy in action which all Hong Kongers like.

One way they would listen is if the "Save Lamma" movement became more vocal. Any resistance will cause the gov't - or those civil servants that have a stake in the project - to listen.

It's a slippery slope: once they begin bulldozing and moving earth, little unplanned things will happen in a way that will only take away from Lamma's rustic charm - in my humble onion...

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