Call for government to justify Long Valley wetland buyout
Green groups want government to spell out whether conservation is valid reason to resume private land and if there are changes in policy
Conservationists have urged the government to clarify whether nature preservation is a legitimate cause for taking land from private owners.
The call comes in response to the Development Bureau's plan to take back about 32 hectares of land in Long Valley, near Sheung Shui in the New Territories - a well-known wetland and bird haven - to create a nature park.
Perhaps we can view it from the development context in the northeastern New Territories, and argue that this is crucial for the greening of the whole region
Conservancy Association chief executive Ken So Kwok-yin said that while the group was generally positive about the land's resumption, the government should make sure that nature conservation was a "cause of public purpose" for which such action was warranted.
Some of the plots of land involved - many of which are being farmed - are in the hands of local rural clans. Others are held by investors and developers, including a subsidiary of property giant Cheung Kong.
The bureau says the Land Resumption Ordinance will be used to take back the land for a park next to a planned new town in Kwu Tung. So noted that this law was mainly used to resume land for purposes such as roads and railways. While the ordinance did not state explicitly that nature conservation was a public purpose, it said the Chief Executive in Council could justify what constituted a public purpose.
"We are concerned [about whether conservation] meets the ordinance's requirement as an overriding need," So said.
He said there might have been no precedent for such a move, hence making it vital for officials to ensure that the resumption was properly justified.
