From YMCA Lamma Island Outdoor Centre, inside the ex-Lamma Quarry:

There are still spaces available for our Lunar New Year Junior Camp for campers ages 8-11! Sign up today for 3 days of outdoor adventure including archery, disc golf, campfire, low ropes, hiking... and much more!

Camp date: Feb 5-6 (Wed-Fri)

Click here for our brochure: http://ow.ly/sMlA0

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HK Economic Times reported yesterday that the Government would launch a two-month consultation this month on the land use of the former Lamma quarry. The paper noted that the proposal would comprise the development of 2,000 small residential units for 5,000 people, a commercial and tourist centre near the pier and a hotel near an artificial lake to boost tourism ...

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Well, well, no surprise there, they're going for the middle of the three housing options proposed in the first round of consultations last year.
I've been waiting for this 2nd phase, but there's no info on this yet on their website:
http://www.ex-lammaquarry.hk/new.html

Enjoy the ex-quarry while it's still beautiful, unspoilt and only occupied by the occasional camps of the YMCA who make great use of the area inviting youngsters and parents all over HK:
http://www.ymcahk.org.hk/lamma/

Anybody got an idea what the ex-cement factory owners are up to these days? Quite a lot of sometimes noisy activity going on in there. They seem to be eagerly waiting for their huge private area to skyrocket as the commercial hub and main access route to the future ex-Lamma Quarry housing?

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I'm so sick of "consultations".

They just present the plan, let you comment, nod and smile, then proceed to do exactly what they planned long before it became public, saying they have "consulted with al the stakeholders".

The only good thing to come out of this development is that the DAB will get voted out if they really do get another 5000 people, though more likely they will be mostly empty, with absentee owners who bought for investment.

Google translation of the story:

Lamma Quarry housing development partners tourism involving 2,000 residences. Private yacht marina will be canceled.

Exclusive Economic Daily reported that the government accelerate the development of vacant land, discontinued 17 years ago. Lamma quarry in its final stages of development consulting. This month commence, track plans for housing and tourism development, involving about 2,000 gang unit supply, but the proposed private yacht club will be canceled.

Among the comments received in the consultation period, many local residents believe in meeting the housing needs, we also want to strengthen tourism development in order to spur the economy and create jobs in the region.
But there are also many foreign residents opposed to the development of tourism, fear will destroy the existing living environment. The final stage of consultation will start this month consultation period of two months.

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Typical racist slant. They're spinning it as "local vs foreigners".
I bet this came from the government briefing, they like to use that to discount any opposing views.
At the consultations in Sok Kwu Wan and YSW last year there were many more "locals" than foreigners and many of them opposed the plans.

Basically it's people with an interest in real estate development who want this. Who are mostly locals. But "locals" who just live here aren't invested in concreting the island.

And now its about "tourism" and "hotels". Really? The same bullshit they said about Disco Bay, where there is now not one hotel and no one in their right mind visits there for tourism.

The notion of "developing" tourism is ridiculous - surely better to a place in its original condition. Develop it and it loses it's original appeal. In any case, thousands of tourists already arrive on Lamma every day - we already have a developed tourist industry!

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Alan: "Disco Bay, where there is now not one hotel"

Syntactically a bit ambiguous, but I think this means there is no hotel on DBay. For a year or so now there has been the Auberge: http://www.aubergediscoverybay.com/

Ambiguous? How else can it be parsed?

Anyway, obviously I didn't know about that new hotel. But DB is hardly a tourist hotspot.

Though with the latest government plans for a huge reclamation between Lantau and Lamma to site shopping malls for mainlanders to buy milk powder and Rolexes, maybe it will come into its own.

It could be parsed as implying there is more than one - something like, "There is now not one hotel but three." Of course it's pretty clear from the context you thought there is no hotel.

The question of DB and tourism, it seems to me, is rather like that of HK in general. People always mention things like the peak tram, ding-ding trams in general (they're considered so exotic you can hire them for events), and the Star Ferry. I wouldn't myself fork over a lot of money just to see those. Then there are people who like to come to Lamma as tourists, and I suspect that mystifies a few of us.

The Auberge website claims that it's only 25 minutes from both Central and the international airport, so I guess they're pitching it as a good in between place for international travelers, as well as a place to escape the HK urban jungle.


What Lamma will probably get at the ex-quarry is a replica of a famous boat, so the island can compete with HMS Bounty at Disco Bay and Noah's Ark at Park Island. That should pull in the crowds.

If I was drafting legislation I might take that as a valid loophole, but here it's obviously just you looking to stick it to me over my failure to defer to you years ago.


I assume you're being ironic.

Alan,

First point, no. I had and have no intention of sticking something to you. I bear you no ill will; I think you're a fine moderator, and I've pretty much forgotten what happened years ago, although I think I enjoyed it.

Second point, correct. But irony shading into sarcasm. The traditional definition of irony is saying one thing and meaning another. Not sure that applies to my joke about the boats.

My point about how how your phrasing struck me as ambiguous is probably very subjective, but it struck me as a bit odd when I first read it, probably because I'm aware of the Auberge.

I only visit DB occasionally and don't live there, but I have the impression that the pubs and restaurants there do a roaring trade when the weather is OK. Not sure if that counts as tourism. Of course, the place is so unrelentingly up-market, I'm sure that years ago few Lammaites would have had the taste for it, but not sure if that applies these days. That last sentence contains two instances of outright sarcasm.

Just respond to the topic. You don't have to find a way to score a point.
Grammatically, there was no "ambiguity". I made a factual error, which correction I welcome.



The problem is the government isn't being ironic, they're just lying, using this tourism bullshit to pave the way for paving over Lamma.
Once they decide to go ahead with a project, they just put al the current buzzwords in the brochure and refuse to engage on the real issues.




Mostly DB residents, surely.
There are 18000 people in that beehive.
That's not tourism.

Environmental Impact Analysis on the ex-Lamma Quarry has been issued!

Deadline for comments 21st March.

http://www.epd.gov.hk/eia/register/profile/latest/esb270/esb270.pdf

http://www.epd.gov.hk/eia/cindex.html FOR CHINESE

Direct link to the Comments form: https://103.11.91.61/eiacomment/Project_Comments.aspx

Have a look at this Planning and Engineering Study as it's a first description of this massive construction project which will impact much of Lamma, for example a new cable tunnel from the Power Station to the ex-quarry, widening the Family Trail, new quarry ferry pier, etc., etc.

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(C) SCMP today, 2014-03-13, front page of City section:

CITY1 | CITY | development | By Olga Wong

Population of Lamma Island will double under new housing plan

Latest proposal for Sok Kwu Wan would bring 5,000 new residents to island, but locals are alarmed by prospect of high-rise buildings

A refined housing and tourism development plan released yesterday would see Lamma Island’s population almost double from 5,900 to nearly 11,000.

And about one-third of new residents would live in subsidised flats under the proposal.

The mixed housing development, at a 20-hectare former quarry along the northern coast of Sok Kwu Wan, would also feature a resort with a 260-room hotel and centres for water sports and outdoor recreation.

The plan, based on an option “well-received” in the first round of public consultation, would mean an extra 5,000 residents living in 1,900 flats, of which 700 would be subsidised. The previous plan called for 1,000 flats housing 2,800 residents.

While the Planning Department says the increase will justify providing more public facilities like a library and community health centre, the change has sparked criticism from a resident and a green group.

“The high-rises are incompatible with the natural landscape that is popular among nature-lovers. They could end up being luxury apartments targeted by speculators and left vacant,” island resident Damon Wong Chun-pong said.

Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has pledged to increase the number of subsidised flats built citywide from 5,000 to 8,000 a year. The public consultation on the Lamma development will enter its second stage tomorrow.

The department floated three options for the quarry site in the last round of consultation in December 2012. While two focused on housing – one with a population of up to 7,000 – the third option featured a marina and small-scale private housing.

In a paper submitted to the Town Planning Board yesterday, the marina was removed, while the existing five-hectare man-made lake and nine-hectare woodland are preserved.
Residential blocks would range from four to 13 storeys.

A new ferry pier would be built to accommodate the existing licensed ferry services serving Sok Kwu Wan and Mo Tat Wan.
The pier would be the major gathering hub for residents and visitors, featuring an open-air “Entrance Plaza” for festivals and a two-storey commercial block of 6,000 square metres.

Despite the intense development, no new gas main would be included in the near future. Residents would have to rely on LPG cylinders or electricity.

Wong said the proposed settlement meant 10 times the existing population – 500 residents – would be living on southern Lamma.

“The new development plus the new ferry service would put pressure on the southern part of the island, where a protected nesting site for green turtles is located,” he said.

Conservancy Association campaign manager Peter Lee Siu-man said the new development would become another Discovery Bay on Lantau: “Lamma will become a small town but I can’t see how it will benefit the local population.”

Lee also questioned if people who could only afford subsidised flats were willing to move and live on the island.
The consultation will end on May 17.

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Short summary in Chinese:

索罟石礦場諮詢明日開始，講幾點：
最高13層，現在南丫島全是丁屋區最高三層；
住多5000人，依家南丫南的居民數是500人，增加10倍；
1900個單位，三分一居屋，其餘是大單位豪宅，即七百呎以上的單位；
政府話人口多就公共設施多，語言偽術也，南丫北也有5500人以上住，但依然只有小型診所及小型圖書館，是否提供公共設施，從來都是政府話事；
石礦場將會有車路及車輛行駛，未來將是新「愉景灣」

Still not a single word on the official ex-Lamma Quarry project website, nothing updated since last year, not even their "News" page:
http://www.ex-lammaquarry.hk/new.html

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How do I get a subsidised flat?? Do we get priority as residents already???

No priority to Lamma residents at all!

This was discussed in the last public consultation already. You'd have to go through the standard Govt. application and the 5+ year wait to apply for a public housing flat that could be anywhere in HK.
But most applicants would probably reject an offer for a public flat on remote, ferry-only Lamma, so your chances might be higher if you're so eager.

Phase 2 consultation starting tomorrow, but no details or any info available at all yet about this "public consultation", only that it'll be ending on May 15.

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RTHK Radio 3 Backchat discussion tomorrow morning, 8:30am.

They just called me as they're looking for opponents AND supporters of these plans, to go live on English Radio 3 tomorrow morning, in the studio or by phone. Anybody interested? I'll forward you.

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If you can afford to live in Poh Wah Yuen, you're too rich to get a subsidised flat.

And if you're poor enough to get one, you couldn't afford the ferry for a family on top of rent to go work and school.

The government has said over and over that they won't subsidise ferries. But that's the only way they will get anyone to live there.