'PLA Dock Should Be Open To Public, As Promised'

Activists will press the case for opening up the site of a military dock at the Central harbourfront for public use – an arrangement they say was promised in an earlier agreement between the People’s Liberation Army garrison and the government, but was seemingly scrapped.

The Central Harbourfront Concern Group has submitted a rezoning application for the 2,941-square-metre Central military dock to the Town Planning Board, and their arguments will be heard on Friday morning.

Their proposal would allow the government to manage the site, bar four buildings and three landing steps, as open space. This would allow the entire stretch of harbourfront in Central to remain open for public use except when military vessels are berthed there, when the site would be closed under the Public Order Ordinance.

The site is currently zoned for military use, and since June 29 has been a “protected place”.

“We want it rezoned back to open space, which is what it originally was, for public use,” said Mary Mulvihill, a member of the concern group.

“They keep introducing incremental measures: Originally the waterfront was supposed to be for the enjoyment of the public; then they said, with the pier, it would be closed off when the military was in town; and then later on, they made it a military site.

“And now we find, that it is only going to be opened on special occasions as needed, they say, which can be interpreted in any way you want.”

An outline zoning plan from February 2019 includes the line that “the Garrison has, on the request of the HKSAR Government, agreed in 2000 that it would open the area of the military dock site to the public as a part of the promenade when it is not in military use.”

However, the government, in a comment on the concern group’s application, now only says movable gates have been installed around the site, and “the gates can be opened for members of the public to walk through if needed.”

The Planning Department says it does not support the application, saying that the vibrancy of the harbourfront area and the vicinity has not been affected by the closure of the site. It said events such as the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Carnival, continue to be staged, with vast groups of spectators watching from the waterfront.

The concern group says it is not optimistic its application will be supported by the Town Planning Board, which they described as a “rubber stamp”.

They say the dock site has not been physically handed over to the PLA Garrison yet, so they will wait for the result of the meeting and the publication of minutes before deciding whether they can take any further action.