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| The Baroque on Lamma http://www.lamma.com.hk/forum-OK/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=8181 |
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| Author: | Lamma-Gung [ Thu Dec 15, 2011 1:56 pm ] |
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Info on tomorrow's meeting on the rezoning application of The Baroque on Lamma. Some Lammaites will be there, some carrying banners and many listening in to the proceedings via video and simultaneous translation in a "visitors room". You can reserve a seat for the meeting by calling 2231 5061. The original meeting was scheduled two weeks ago, but was postponed to tomorrow on BoL's request. They've also just issued another newsletter 3 days ago on their website (also in print at the Lamma ferry piers): http://www.bol-hk.com/template?series=32&article=346 456th Rural and New Town Planning Committee Meeting Date: Dec 16, 2011 Time: 2:30pm Venue: Conference Room (Room 1537), 15/F, North Point Government Offices, 333 Java Road, North Point, Hong Kong. Sai Kung & Islands District Section 12A Application No. Y/I-LI/1 Application for Amendment to Approved Lamma Island Outline Zoning Plan (OZP) No.S/I-LI/9 from "Agriculture", "Conservation Area" and "Coastal Protection Area" to "Comprehensive Development Area (1)" and to incorporate part of the seabed at Tung O Wan to the east of the application site which is currently not covered by the OZP into the OZP and zone it as "Comprehensive Development Area (1)" with a maximum plot ratio of 0.6, and maximum building height of 3 storeys on land and 4 storeys on marina, Various Lots and Adjoining Government Land in D.D. 7 and D.D.9, Tung O, Lamma Island (Open Meeting)" |
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| Author: | Alan [ Sat Dec 17, 2011 10:04 am ] |
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A report on the Town Planning Board's meeting Dec 16, 2011 by a Living Lamma observer After a meeting that lasted more than 3 hours this afternoon, the decision was "We'll let you know." Observers spent most of the time wondering if the translators were making mistakes, or if what they were hearing really was absurd, and trying to figure out who was speaking as the quality of the video feed made it difficult to tell. The meeting opened with declarations of interest. Mr. YK Cheng, CEO of the Baroque, said that "his company" had direct business interests in the Baroque and would not be present as a member of the TPB. He then appeared on the BOL side of the table as a proponent of the project. To be fair, the chairperson did ask if anyone had been lobbied by Mr. Cheng, and thankfully no-one said they had, so on with the meeting. The District Planning Office and AFCD spoke, outlining the scope and purpose of the project, and summarising what the various departments thought. The Commissioner for Tourism, Secretary for Home Affairs and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department apparently welcomed the project. The South Lamma Rural Committee and the local District Councillor also agreed to the development. Opposing the project were the Development Opportunities Office, Agriculture Fisheries and Conservation Department, Marine Department, Transport Department, Police and Fire Services Departments and the Planning Department concluded their presentation by saying that, based on available evidence, they did not support the development. What followed next was a series of presentations from the Baroque and their consultants from ERM, Aecom and AGC Design. A representative of Mott MacDonald was also present but, as far as we could tell from the screen, did not speak. Mr. Cowen Chiu, big wig of the yachting world gave a video presentation and Mr. Chong Dee Hwa of the Hong Kong Ichthyological Society of Hong Kong also spoke. I sincerely hope that the meeting will be Minuted in all its glorious detail. The hour is too late and my notes too long to provide that here, but here are a few choice quotes: "They call me the commodore of Lamma." (Bobby Li) "People who know me, well I think there are plenty of them...I face nature more than people and obtain information that is not available to people who work 9-5 in an office.....I love mother nature....There have been conflicts between China and Japan and we see the same with nature, we all need space. Can a person who loves nature go home and not have babies or shower with soap?...Eventually we are going to have to develop the coastal areas. This is a good opportunity and Mr. Bobby Li knows Lamma very well. When the project is realised, Mr. Bobby Li and his associates will be retired, so the benefits will be for future generations, not for themselves." (Chong Dee Hwa) We lost contact with the meeting as the project proponents moved to show off a model of the proposal. Not sure exactly who was speaking at this point, but the following quotes occurred when Aecom took the lead: "The project will not pose a lot of impact on the environment. Between the buildings there is a lot of space for greenery. The marina will give you a leisurely feeling and an entirely different lifestyle" "Our proposed development will improve the environment and create a very nice ambiance for the whole of Lamma Island. Some roads will be open to the public as well and some green places will be retained." "Our proposal will turn Lamma Island into an important tourist site." "This is the right location for a new marina." The OZP designations of conservation area and agricultural use have been around for quite some time. We need to update the zoning." Next it was the turn of ERM's Frank Wan who said: "There will be no impact on the frogs." On the possibility that the lights from the development would cause problems for the green turtles, he said that the project is "quite far away", "more than 500 metres', and the plan would be to use "red lights" during the nesting season for the hotel and the clubhouse to minimise any impact. There was no mention of the lights from the 900 flats or the boats, but they said that there should be a "post construction survey to confirm that the lights have not affected the turtles." We can only wonder how residents of the 6 Star hotel would like Lamma's first red light district? Mr. Wan also said that there would be a "loss of 48 hectares of fishing ground", but it's OK because, "the artificial reef will enhance marine resources." Next August Tiu talked about the "conservation corridor to protect flora and fauna" and Grace Cheng from AGC Design talking about Costa Smeralda in Sardinia. It emerged later that some of the project team had also travelled to St. Tropez and Monte Carlo on fact finding missions for the Baroque. YK Cheng asked for "5 more minutes to wrap up." He said, "It takes time for the public to accept the development. We have talked to green groups, yachting groups, etc and also organised a forum with Minutes. I am delighted that the level of acceptance has been increasing. 95% of indigenous villagers support the project and 100% of those who run businesses support it." He mentioned that the Capella - a "6 star hotel in Singapore" - had signed a letter of intention to run the hotel if the project goes ahead. There followed a Q&A and an opportunity for more great quotes: "I'd like to stress that I am independent. I am not a consultant, I am a partner." (Mr. Chong) "I have an observation. It's just like dogs and monkeys. They don't tolerate each other. It's just like cats and rats. If they are raised together, they will tolerate each other. Turtles have been around for 215 million years, longer than people and we have to see how they adapt. We should study that. With new gene technologies we can allow turtles to come back to their original habitats." (Mr. Chong) "The resort hotel in Singapore is a very good project. There is not much space between the buildings but actually its huge space because when you are inside you can't see the next building." (Grace Cheng) Responding to a comment from a TPB member that the outcome of the Baroque's public consultation was at odds with the number of objections received, a spokesperson for the Baroque said: "We can't identify where the objections have come from. We don't know who they are. There were objections at the start but very soon the number of supporters grew very substantially." "This is for the long term benefit of Hong Kong. I love Lamma." (Bobby Li) Mr Li concluded: "This is a chicken and egg situation. We need an outline and we need to go deeper. Just approve the outline. Endorsement of this outline doesn't mean that we can do it in the end." You might be wondering what some of this means. You might even find you disagree with some of the comments. If so, please address your remarks to Mr. Bobby Li and YK Cheng, The Baroque on Lamma, enquiry@bol-hk.com, tel: 28473383 or drop by their office at 33/F Citibank Tower, Garden Road, Hong Kong. Be sure to say who you are! By the way, the Planning Department have done a marvellous job in synthesizing all the submissions on the Baroque. Their report is the size of a large telephone directory and is available for public viewing at their offices in Shatin. |
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| Author: | Foxy [ Sat Dec 17, 2011 10:11 am ] |
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Planners sink plans for Lamma marina See page A3 of today's SCMP |
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| Author: | Alan [ Sat Dec 17, 2011 11:13 am ] |
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| Author: | Foxy [ Sat Dec 17, 2011 12:20 pm ] |
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| Author: | Tally Ho [ Sat Dec 17, 2011 2:34 pm ] |
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Lamma Island marina bid is thrown out SCMP Saturday, December 17, 2011 Luxury scheme for flats and yachts in green area would set undesirable precedent, say planners Olga Wong Dec 17, 2011 A bold development plan in an ecologically sensitive part of Lamma Island was rejected yesterday by town planners, who feared its approval would set an undesirable precedent. The luxury residential and marine project, Baroque on Lamma, was led by a Town Planning Board member, Cheng Yan-kee. He is the chief executive of the company in charge of the development and was one of the project representatives who met the board yesterday. The Planning Department said Cheng had declared his conflict of interest. The project would have covered more than 85 hectares of green and marine areas in Tung O Wan and included plans for an international yachting base with 500 berths. The scheme encroached on conservation areas and would have needed a vast, 78-hectare slice of government land. It was resurrected in March after being rejected by the Development Opportunities Office last year. The office facilitates private proposals that are deemed worthwhile. Under the amended plan submitted to the Town Planning Board, the development density was reduced by lowering residential buildings and hotel blocks from six or seven storeys to no more than four, providing 900 flats and 120 hotel rooms. But the proposal failed to win the support of board members and government departments. "Approval of the application would set an undesirable precedent for similar applications in the south of Lamma and would attract similar applications for development in conservation-related zones," the Planning Department said. A spokeswoman for the board said the project was incompatible with the area's conservation status and its excessive scale would ruin the site's rural character and threaten ecological assets in the island's south. Apart from the loss of farmland, the marina development would involve reclamation of about nine hectares, resulting in the loss of fisheries habitat, including nursing grounds for some commercial species. The Lands Department also said in the board's paper that it did not support the project as it involved a substantial portion of government land, some burial grounds and sites of archaeological interest. Private land in the hands of the developer only accounts for 8.4 per cent of the development's total area. The department said the prevailing land policy does not allow land exchange of this scale. The proposal sparked controversy, and green groups raised objections, fearing the massive development would be a threat to rare species in the area. The Romer's tree frog, which is endangered, is found in the affected conservation areas, while there is a nesting ground for the endangered green turtle just 200 to 300 metres away. |
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| Author: | Rach [ Sun Dec 18, 2011 12:31 pm ] |
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| Author: | Richard [ Fri Dec 23, 2011 2:16 am ] |
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| Author: | Lamma-Gung [ Fri Dec 23, 2011 6:41 am ] |
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18 months till they're permitted to reapply. But there are more urgent matters happening right now in South Lamma, Home Affairs Dept. and a local developer have already started more construction work along the beach. See my recent Lamma-zine story, plus this newsletter with many photos sent out just today: How Can We Protect South Lamma? |
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| Author: | SSL956 [ Fri Dec 23, 2011 11:50 am ] |
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| Author: | Lamma-Gung [ Sat Dec 24, 2011 8:39 am ] | ||
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| Author: | Lamma-Gung [ Tue Jan 10, 2012 12:51 pm ] |
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Here are the detailed minutes of the Town Planning Board meeting about BoL, published just a few days ago. They make for some very interesting reading. See page 32 & 33 for the reasons for their decision: http://www.info.gov.hk/tpb/en/meetings/RNTPC/Minutes/m456rnt_e.pdf |
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| Author: | Alan [ Tue Jan 10, 2012 1:54 pm ] |
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| Author: | Wiggychick [ Mon Feb 27, 2012 8:01 pm ] |
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| Author: | Lamma-Gung [ Mon Jun 25, 2012 10:49 am ] |
| Post subject: | Baroque Again |
Latest newsletter from Living Lamma just received: Baroque Again? |
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| Author: | charlie [ Mon Jun 25, 2012 2:25 pm ] |
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| Author: | rambler [ Mon Jun 25, 2012 2:52 pm ] |
| Post subject: | BOL |
| Author: | charlie [ Mon Jun 25, 2012 7:19 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: BOL |
| Author: | Tigger [ Tue Jun 26, 2012 10:50 am ] |
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| Author: | Lamma-Gung [ Sat Jun 30, 2012 8:53 am ] | ||
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Email newsletter to all subscribers of the BoL website, received yesterday, Jun 29, 2012: "Dear Friends, As part of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report to be submitted to Environmental Protection Department under the Ordinance, The Baroque on Lamma (BoL) needs to undertake a Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment to identify whether the proposed development has any adverse impact on cultural heritage. BoL’s environmental consultant, Environment Resources Management Ltd (ERM), will be responsible for the Archaeological Impact Assessment (AIA) field work. For more information regarding AIA, you are welcome to visit our latest blog entry “Archaeological Impact Assessment Field Work”. Should you have further queries, please do not hesitate to contact us. Yours Truly, The Team of The Baroque on Lamma http://www.bol-hk.com" 親愛的博寮港之友： 博寮港須進行一項文化遺產影響評估工作，以評估有關發展會否影響當地的文化遺產，而結果將成為博寮港向環境保護署提交的環境影響評估報告其中一部份。博寮港的顧問公司—環境資源管理有限公司（ERM）將負責進行古物影響評估工作。欲知道更多有關古物影響評估的詳情，可參閱博寮港網站最新一篇題為「古物影響評估工程即將展開」的博客。 若有任何查詢，歡迎隨時與我們聯繫。 南丫島博寮港團隊 謹啟 http://www.bol-hk.com<HR> More info and a detailed map in the "Blog of Baroque": http://www.bol-hk.com/template?series=32&article=407
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