The Wang Chau development has to proceed in phases to avoid stalling the overall public housing development for Yuen Long, and the lobbying done by the Government is no substitute for formal consultation, Secretary for Transport & Housing Prof Anthony Cheung said.
Prof Cheung made the statements in a press conference today on the details of Wang Chau development, noting that the first phase had gone ahead as policies are still being worked out to relocate the businesses conducted in the brownfield sites covered by the second and third phases.
To streamline the process for these two phases to proceed, the Government will carry out technical study and complete it within two years while striving to address the brownfield site issues, he added.
Prof Cheung also said the Housing and other Government departments had lobbied local representatives in four informal sessions held between July 2013 and March 2014 on the Wang Chau development.
Among the session participants are Yuen Long District Council Chairman Leung Che-cheung and several members of the council, he said, emphasising that such lobbying is no substitute for formal consultation such as gazetting development plans to solicit public views.
He also said the process to develop public housing in Wang Chau could not go ahead, should the three phases proceed in one go.
