Regina Ip Says Red Herrings Are Among Land Options

Executive Councillor Regina Ip has described some of the proposals in the government's land supply consultation as red herrings. Speaking after appearing on a radio programme, she said some were impractical and the government needed to bite the bullet and state its policy preference.

She also said the scope of the public consultation, being carried out by the government's Task Force on Land Supply, was too broad and open-ended and could lead to conflict.

The task force has proposed 18 options, including controversial suggestions like reclamation outside Victoria Harbour, public-private partnership to develop farm land owned by property developers, as well as building flats on the fringes of country parks. It says it has no preference. Eight of the 18 options are described as conceptual, and include building on top of the Kwai Chung container terminal.

Ip, chairwoman and legislator of the New People's Party, says the consultation exercise has already caused problems.

"There are concerns in many quarters that the consultation could get out of hand, in the sense that it will only provoke more confrontations and conflict without being able to foster a community-wide consensus," she said.

But speaking after appearing on RTHK' City Forum, the chairman of the government's Task Force on Land Supply, Stanley Wong, said they were trying to communicate with as many people as possible.

Stanley Wong also responded to comments that scrapping the 150-a-day one-way permit quota, without vetting, would solve the land shortage problem. He said even if the policy were to change, it wouldn't affect the consultation. The Development Secretary Michael Wong also responded on his blog. He said there was a need for family reunification.

Last Friday, police said they had arrested a 57-year-old man in connection with an attack on a Labour Party member during a protest at the Hong Kong Golf Club in Fanling. Demonstrators had been on the club's grounds, chanting slogans calling for the government to take back control of the land, which they say can be used for public housing.

Alternative uses of sites under private recreational leases is one of the short-to-medium term options in the consultation document.

On Sunday, members from the Labour Party, along with the League of Social Democrats and several other concern groups, again protested outside the Fanling Golf Course to demand that the government develop the plot to ease the housing shortage. They say the 170-hectare course could be used not only for public housing, but also for other facilities such as elderly homes.

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