Plans for flats on two Tai Po sites rejected

Plans for more public housing flats in Tai Po came under attack from district councillors yesterday, with criticism ranging from a failure to consider transport infrastructure to obstructing views of existing estates.

Two of the three sites were widely rejected at a Tai Po District Council meeting, dealing a setback to the Housing Authority, the government's developer of public flats.

Only the plan to build 4,860 homes in the largely undeveloped Tai Po area 9, in the northeast of the district, received general acceptance.

Proposed residential blocks in Chung Nga Road East and Chung Nga Road West, to yield 1,690 homes, drew opposition from most of the councillors.

They said the authority failed to include in its latest project report a thorough assessment of the supporting transport, educational and social welfare facilities.

Earlier, concerns about noise and environmental pollution as well as traffic jams have been aired by residents of Fu Heng estate and Chung Nga Court, both on Chung Nga Road. Fu Heng is expected to be hemmed in on its east and west by those two projects.

"The authority cannot just ignore the public's opposition by saying only [the views of ] 272 households [on Fu Heng] will be affected and that they account for only about 4.7 per cent of the total" 5,800 Fu Heng flats, councillor Wong Pik-kiu said.