Lung Mei beach plan fought on ecological grounds

The government failed to take into account the presence of ecologically valuable marine species at the site of a planned artificial beach in Tai Po before approving the plan, activists will argue in a court challenge to the scheme.

Ho Loy, a member of the Save Lung Mei Alliance, filed a notice with the High Court seeking a judicial review of the government's decision to allow the building of the Lung Mei beach on the grounds of a flawed environmental impact assessment.

The alliance earlier said that preparatory work on the project, first mooted in the 1990s, was due to begin as soon as Tuesday.

The director of Environmental Protection "could not rationally have granted the Environmental Permit on the basis that 'Lung Mei did not appear to serve critical or unique habitats for species of conservation importance, or support significant populations of such species'", Ho wrote in the filing.

The assessment failed to touch on the spotted seahorse, a species classified as "vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, Ho says. It did not consider whether the area around the beach might be a breeding ground for the species.

The applicant also criticised the government's failure to consider three marine species, considered to be of high conservation value, that had been found at the site.