Heureka!
There is a small exhibition on the ferry pier promoting use of underground space in Hong Kong. Perfect solution for Lamma. Not to mention Lamma’s experience in tunneling since WWII. Underground bicycle parking, horizontal tunnel shortcut YSW-Pak Kok, tunnel and shaft with elevator to Tai Peng – lots of opportunities. Diesel can be moved to some underground cavern. Lots of concrete as well!

Are you referring to the "Rock Cavern Development" that the Govt. announced as part of the "Enhancing Land Supply Strategy" where they're also proposed to reclaim land for a new island north of YSW, the Lamma Quarry and on Po Toi Island?

There are actually FOUR of these huge Underground Spaces proposed on Lamma, as future "Govt. Facilities":

below the future YSW and SKW Sewage Treatment Plants-in-progress,
below the water reservoir below the windturbine and
someplace close to the Youth Hostel,

see map below from page 12 of the Underground Space Study:

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From the same study, an artist's impression of how such a Rock Cavern might look like. Notice the windturbine (Just an example! it says)?

This is how the Rock Cavern/Underground Space below the windturbine might look like, if these long-term plans ever come to be realised. They're just wild ideas at this point, discussed in public forum and exhibitions all over HK, including the ferry pier, with probably quite low chance of ever being built.

Yes, our Govt. planners are keeping busy dreaming up new ways of spoiling our home island.

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Will Henry Tang be in charge of this project, given his considerable expertise with large subterranean structures?

There'll certainly be enough room down there for a wine cellar, cinema and jacuzzi!
Imagine how much more popular the windturbine would become with such a big entertainment centre (including Diesel's and other venues) just below it!

But being notoriously curious and nosy, I've always been wondering:

We've got plenty of "glasshouses" / 3th floors atop village houses on Lamma, but does anybody know about cellars and "underground spaces" below village houses?
Who's got a wine cellar, a man cave, a media room, a billiard room or whatever in their illegal basement??? Tell us anonymously, without naming names, of course.

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When the Lamma sewer comes online, we'll all have an underground structure - a redundant cess pit. Not so grand as Henry's, but big enough for a modest wine cellar or nuclear shelter maybe

They're not really "proposed".
They're "existing government facilities that have the potential for rock cavern development".

In practice, none of them would make sense on Lamma.

One, the reservoir, is already covered and virtually underground already.
The SKW sewage plant: currently under construction; they're not going to start that over.

The one on the hill near the hostel: there is absolutely nothing there.
The one near YSW: again, no idea.

That map was made by some idiot who just put blue dots on any government facility, and added several for luck. Meaningless.

Near the hostel, nothing there? So how it's designated as an "existing Govt. facility"? This is an official Govt. map widely distributed in all media and discussed in public consultations, so it's probably a bit more that some idiot adding a blue dot "for luck".

Anybody knows more of what could be up there? I couldn't find anything significant on the most detailed Govt. maps at map.gov.hk, just the "Lamma Garden of Remembrance" columbarium. Well, thinking about that some of the proposed usages for Underground Spaces are columbaria, according to the consultation documents, maybe that's what the blue dot refers to?!

So I better reserve my space in there before they'll put future burial urns underground below that columbarium!<HR>
The blue dot near YSW is obviously our Sewage Treatment Plant-under-construction behind the Helipad. As it's already under full Govt. control and zoned, currently a large building site, like the SKW Sewage Treatment Pant-under-construction, it would be feasible for Govt. to extend it to a much larger Underground Space, once they run out of space for Govt. facilities on the existing first phase of the harbour reclamation.

For example, our Police Chief told me in person that the building of the new Police Station there might start later this month, together with the new Activity Centre just before it .

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I guess you're right, but still, none of the caverns make any sense on Lamma. It isn't Central where digging a hugely expensive cavern is justified by billions in real estate that the government can sell as A-grade offices.

The Columbarium I suppose is the dot near the hostel. Theoretically possible to put in a cavern, but pretty unlikely. The hillsides of Lamma are being covered by huge gravesites, just one or two of them would cover the same area as the Columbarium.

The under-construction sewage plant is never likely to be rebuilt in a cavern. As much chance of that as putting the HKE plant underground.

YLF could take this as a licence to propose digging huge caverns around the island and putting random facilities in them, (e.g., primary school, soccer pitch, post office) then allowing the land released to be covered by rubble and broken toilets before being converted to village housing.

What a bonanza for the construction and real estate sector that would be.

Message from Paul Zimmermann via Facebook:

"Deadline for comments on the New North Lamma artificial island proposed as part of land supply strategy is March 31 .
See http://www.landsupply.hk "

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Submitted by several interested parties:

緊急！
不要讓南丫島填海成真！
請遞交您的意見！

您想要一個100公頃的人工島以及在南丫島北的海岸線填海嗎？您想索罟灣對岸的前石礦場用地對出填海29公頃嗎？
政府列出了25個可考慮的填海地點。到目前為止，只有少數的反對意見針對南丫島的填海，如果公眾對此沒反應的話，政府有可能將南丫島的填海列入下一階段的填海研究選址。
填海是十分具爭議性的題目。不少評論員也指出政府的理據並不充足。
填海將永久改變南丫島的地貌，並將改變居民的生活習慣和對遊客的吸引力。政府就填海的其中一個好處，是用作堆填廢料，這是您想要的南丫島嗎？
行動起來！
將您的意見電郵到：landsupply@cedd.gov.hk
更多資料可見：http://www.landsupply.hk （請保持耐心，相關資料須時下載，政府建議的可考慮的填海地點可在網頁的傳媒中心找到）

截止日期：2012年3月31日

URGENT
DON’T LET LAMMA RECLAMATIONS GET TO THE NEXT STAGE – WRITE TODAY!

Do you want a 100-hectare plus reclamation off the coast of north Lamma? Do you want reclamation of up to 29 hectares off the site of the Lamma quarry opposite Sok Kwu Wan?

The government has listed 25 sites for reclamation. As yet there have been few objections to reclamation off Lamma. There is a danger that these sites will be short-listed if there is no response from the public.

The proposals for reclamation are very controversial. Many commentators have noted that the government’s arguments for reclamation are flawed.
Reclamation on or near Lamma will forever alter the island’s landscape, and will change the way of life of its residents and the value it has for visitors. The government claims that one of the benefits of reclamation is that it will provide a place to dump Hong Kong’s construction waste. Is this what you want for Lamma?

ACT NOW
Send your comments to: landsupply@cedd.gov.hk
For more information visit: http://www.landsupply.hk (be patient the information takes a while to download. The map of proposed sites can be found in the Media Corner of the website)

For a very easy, super quick response, click here (Thank you, Paul Zimmerman!

Deadline: Saturday, 31st March 2012

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CEDD has just confirmed the 4 dots on Lamma Island on the Landsupply consultation document above. There are the 4 existing Govt. facilities under consideration for future rock caverns or underground spaces:

1. Outlying Island Transfer Facilities - Yung Shue Wan Station
2. Outlying Island Transfer Facilities - Sok Kwu Wan Station
3. Lamma Island Fresh Water Service Reservoirs
4. Lamma Island Columbarium

I've asked an engineer about #1 and #2 in person the other day, if there are any plans for them for future additional rock caverns or underground spaces. He had no idea and never heard of it.

So in addition to 3 potential reclamation sites, New North Lamma, Lamma Quarry and our sister islands, Po Toi, these are 4 more spots for Lammaites to keep our attention on in the years to come.

10 of the 25 suggested reclamation sites all over HK will be shortlisted for further study after tomorrow's last day of public consultation period. Send in your comments now!

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None of those make any sense for Lamma.

Not that that will stop our local politicians and the CEDD putting their hands out to build them.

Is there list on-line of the sites that were shortlisted for further progress?