Kai Tak and the adjoining area is the last 'virgin' land around the harbourfront. Thus, the public consultation exercise is our last chance to optimise the location of the many facilities required to make the harbour district a sustainable, vibrant economy and a quality living experience.
However, the planning and engineering review, entitled Working Together to Shape a new Kai Tak, appears to be defined in isolation. It lacks a well-developed, strategic planning framework setting out the social, economic and environmental aspirations for the districts surrounding Victoria Harbour as a whole.
The review identifies several key facilities, including a sports stadium, cruise terminal, refuse transfer station, train depot, heliport and park - but lacks a justification as to why they should be in Kai Tak.
All reasonable alternatives need to be considered. Is it better to locate the sports stadium in West Kowloon, and cruise terminals in North Point or Hunghom? Do we build a big public park in Central and use Kai Tak and Kwun Tong to build a new business district? Do we build new convention facilities and government offices in Kai Tak, or in Wan Chai? Do we turn Kai Tak into a nautical centre, with marinas and cruise terminals, or do we use Hunghom and Causeway Bay?
With available land limited, these competing demands will require complicated choices of what to build, and where to build it. Moreover, with even piling for piers considered to be reclamation, any plan for the harbour will require some land recovery.
This, in turn, means that the overriding public need test, laid down by the courts, applies. It demands that all reasonable alternatives be considered first, in consultation with the public - including, surely, the possibility of swapping facilities between districts.
