The missing links for East Lantau Metropolis
Francis Cheung says if East Lantau is to be developed, it needs two links to thrive - one joining it with Central, and the other linking the airports in Hong Kong and Shenzhen
Given that grand visions outlined in policy addresses often find their way to the dustbin of history, it will be interesting to see whether the proposal for an East Lantau Metropolis, a 1,000-hectare artificial island in waters between Hong Kong Island and Lantau, will ever become reality.
I believe it would stand a better chance if two missing links were added to the picture: one connecting Lantau and Hong Kong via the artificial island; the other, linking the Hong Kong International Airport and the Shenzhen Baoan International Airport.
However, these links face different obstacles. One concerns the current legal protection of Victoria Harbour against unnecessary reclamation, while the other is the proposed third runway for Hong Kong.
Just before the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997, the Legislative Council passed the Protection of the Harbour Ordinance, which sets stringent limits to reclamation within Victoria Harbour. More significantly, the western boundary of the harbour was drawn in such a way as to include Green Island, just off the western tip of Hong Kong Island.
The law poses a serious challenge to building a bridge or tunnel linking the proposed metropolis and Hong Kong Island, as land would have to be reclaimed outwards from Kennedy Town towards Green Island to accommodate the link. Given that the passage of the ordinance grew out of environmentalists' opposition to Green Island reclamation under the colonial government, one should expect a tough fight even if it could be justified to the courts that the project addresses a "compelling, overriding and present need" - a key criterion set in precedent cases.
The government could consider anchoring the Hong Kong end of the bridge or tunnel on the south side of the island, for example, near Sandy Bay, as a way of skirting the law. But that would render the connection between the proposed metropolis and Central much more circuitous.
Moreover, a more direct link to Central would make it easier for vehicles entering Hong Kong from the metropolis to connect to the Western Harbour Crossing, giving the city the convenience of a genuine ring road.
