Lamma quarry site could be an environmental Eden
Andy Cornish and Jo Wilson argue that by approving a housing development for the Lamma quarry site, the government would be passing up a great environmental opportunity
The first 10 months of the new administration has seen the Environment Bureau lay out more ambitious plans to tackle a swathe of environmental issues than we've seen in the previous five years, and an unprecedented level of collaboration with other bureaus on issues including air pollution and marine litter.
We have a long way to go before the new initiatives bite, as the shocking air pollution demonstrates, but Hong Kong has the expertise and resources to become Asia's greenest city within a decade. Nothing less should be our goal.
Adding housing to every available site...is no way to go about things strategically
However, society can only be expected to respond en masse and get behind the policies if change is palpable, and for that we need physical structures that demonstrate that change is real, and here to stay. Cutting-edge office buildings equipped with futuristic turbines, green facades and other visible innovations in the heart of our commercial districts would be one example.
Changing human behaviour is notoriously difficult, but as adults we will also need to adjust to new realities of constrained natural resources, and other limits to our development. Life has become so complex that adults will need education too. The world simply doesn't have the luxury of time to wait until our enlightened youngsters become tomorrow's decision-makers.
There is an incredible opportunity to address these challenges and add real value to Hong Kong and it has been sitting right under our noses for years - at the old quarry site across from Sok Kwu Wan on Lamma Island. The Lamma quarry was rehabilitated in 2002 and is a 20-hectare site with a man-made lake inhabited by egrets and other wildlife.
The government is currently deciding what to do with the site and has conducted the first stage of a public consultation. Sadly, Hong Kong is in danger of missing a fabulous opportunity to create a flagship project to transform attitudes and behaviour in conjunction with the community.
Instead, three options for development have been presented for the rubber stamp - all versions of the same design featuring a mix of housing, restaurants, waterfront promenade, and a water sports facility. The unique nature of Lamma as the car-free, biodiverse "back-garden" of Hong Kong is recognised and then ignored as the development options mimic Discovery Bay, with housing for 2,800 to 7,000 people proposed.
