In our CE's policy address yesterday, I noticed that they're eager to go ahead with "a new 130-hectare artificial island "metropolis" to be built east of Lantau".

Looking at the location map in today's SCMP ("Metropolis' off Lantau envisioned as third CBD"), see below, it's actually far from Lantau, but very close to HK Island and Yung Shue Wan!
It's basically the same wild idea that was floated more than a year ago by Govt. as "Artificial Island in Central Waters", see my Lamma-zine April Fool's story:
Apr 1, 2013: Bauhinia Island

Looks like they're eager to make this island a reality, talking about reclaiming an entire island, starting with 10% the size of Lamma to grow to the size of Lamma over the next few decades, with some "American-style outlet malls"...

SCMP, Jan 16, 2014:

New 'East Lantau Metropolis' set to become a core business area

An "East Lantau Metropolis" could rise from the sea between Hong Kong and Lantau islands over the next 50 years, with the government looking at the possibility of reclaiming more than 1,000 hectares of land, government sources said.

One said the new metropolis would be similar in size to the city's airport island.

A real estate adviser said it could house outlet malls.

The sources made clear the scale of the plan after Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying unveiled the idea in his speech. He said: "It will become a core business district in addition to Central and Kowloon East for promoting economic development and providing job opportunities."

A government source said the new metropolis would be in a strategic location, and able to be connected by bridges or tunnels with Western District on Hong Kong Island, Lantau Island and parts of the western New Territories such as Tuen Mun.

The source said the Development Bureau would start a feasibility study by June, to be completed by 2017.

To prepare an economic and social development strategy for Lantau, Leung said he would establish a Lantau Development Advisory Committee.

The committee will also seek advice on ways to revive the Lantau development plan, drafted in 2007. Steered by Secretary for Development Paul Chan Mo-po, it will include representatives from the commercial and recreational sectors, planning and architectural fields, district councillors and lawmakers.

Leung said Lantau would become an essential connecting point for journeys to and from Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macau when the 55-kilometre Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge opens in 2016 and the nine-kilometre Tuen Mun-Chek Lap Kok link opens two years later.

"[Lantau] will link Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, the New Territories and the western Pearl River Delta, and become the converging point of traffic from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau," he said. "This will bring fundamental change to [its] functions and development potential."

Vincent Cheung Kiu-cho, national director at real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield, said the plan should focus on retail development instead of luring companies to set up office there.

"The reclaimed area will have a great potential for retail development, which will be the primary beneficiary of the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge," he said. "Building American-style outlet malls will be an ideal operation model to lure shoppers."

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What a stupid destructive idiotic idea.

Pissing away hundreds of billions of dollars to pour concrete into the ocean to build more fucking shopping malls for people to work minimum wage, and pump our tax money into the construction companies.

All because the government is too cowardly to face down the Heung Yee Kuk and have rational development in the New Territories.

Don't we have enough of those shopping malls already in HK (there will be many more on the artifical island next to the aiport as well)?
Simply stupid.

This megalomaniac project seems like big enough a deal to deserve an actual referendum. (cue maniacal laughter by concrete tycoons and their political buddies...)

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"Non calor sed umor est qui nobis incommodat!"

From Paul Zimmerman today, via Deb.
Talking to some indigenous villagers about the SCMP story yesterday, they also confirmed that the location in the official Govt. handouts and the SCMP is wrong. That doesn't make these plans any better at all...

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Well, further away from Lamma is better. A bit less crap in the water for our beaches.

Remember this plan of building a new artificial island just north of Lamma, just a wild figment of the imagination just last year, when I spoofed it in our traditional April's Fool Lamma-zine story:
Bauhinia Island

Well, it's becoming a reality, LegCo just approved USD260 million funding application for a strategic study project for the construction of “East Lantau Metropolis” on 7th April, see below.

The location has changed from the rumoured north of YSW position (2* mapped wrongly in the SCMP) to Sunny Bay, a future "East Lantau Metropolis", see below.

According to Govt. plans, this will start out small, 100-200ha, but grow to a size bigger than ALL of Lamma Island's (1,355 ha) in the not-too-distant future, 1,400-2,400 ha, see news story quoting TVB news below:
http://therealnewshk.wordpress.com/2014/04/19/man-made-island-plan-approved-ping-chau-residents-worry

It'll be interesting to see the progress of this approved, epic-size HK$2 billion "study project" and eventual Dubai-style construction works from our Pak Kok rooftop, as we've got all of Lantau, Central waters and South HK Island in our panoramic views.

If you think this will not impact Lamma in any way, you might be very mistaken...

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OK, Focus Group Meeting (in English) about the ex-Lamma Quarry housing development project tonight.
Got any questions I might ask?
Bilingual public consultation on May 3.

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The bonkers artificial island idea, which I vaguely remember reported in these forums and thought was absurd, is apparently still in the works, along with yet more massive reclamation projects as announced in CY's policy address.

I think a sustained, persistent, well networked, multilingual campaign could prevent this going too much further. So long as it remains on the list of publicly declared development objectives it remains a serious possibility. Surely this unaffordable and devastating folly must be reasoned out of existence even from the most invested of interests.

this is my source, haven't looked further but there must be more

Please get on this HK and Lamma people

http://www.wwf.org.hk/en/?12800/Policy-Address-2015

I live in hope Alan.

Inundation from rising seas an increasing likelihood, one of many reasons to spend the money on social welfare instead.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30816143

The plans for the New North Lamma artificial island (larger than Lamma) - now called East Lantau Metropolis, I believe? - are slowly moving ahead.

Here's a Photoshopped model that our Development Secretary, Paul Chan, was proudly displaying to our state visitor from up North yesterday. Lamma in lower right corner:

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East Lantau Metropolis plans presented in District Council a while ago. They seem to be getting serious about this, might well happen in a few years...

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