70% of Lantau is country parks (mountains) and 16% is reserved for conservation (near the shore).
The Government’s vision is to balance between development and conservation. It has proposed that civil engineers lead a dedicated “Sustainable Lantau Office” (SLO) to manage all initiatives for Lantau.
This office should have been set up under the Chief Secretary or Development Bureau (應直屬政務司司長或發展局) instead and include personnel from the Environmental Protection, Planning and Lands Departments, and be located on Lantau, if they are serious about it.
There are several key priorities for this office.
Firstly, it should maintain the closed road system (維持封閉道路政策), and review the current vehicle permits. It is impossible to allow ‘groups of cars’ for every electricity meter (home) with its fast growing population.
Secondly, it needs a joint-enforcement team to stop eco-vandalism (停止破壞生態). As land values increase with new roads and development, owners are filling up the land and creating brownfield uses which destroy the environment from Pui O to Tung Chung River valley.
Thirdly, it needs to take control over small house permits (嚴防套丁). Developers have blatantly recruited villagers to act as front men for development schemes.
Fourthly, it needs to have minor update in the legislations. Transporting and dumping of inert waste on Lantau should be subject to permits. Land owners must be required to seek permission first before filling up the land, erecting structures, parking caravans, or other developments.
Finally, if it wants to be ‘sustainable’, the Office has to present plans with all associated impacts on the ecology and landscape before we can commit. We have to avoid incremental creeps. There should NOT be any hiding of induced demand for transport and utilities, supporting infrastructure, and slope works more than required (不應隱藏資料).
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