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Welcome to Friends of the Harbour March 19, 2004 Society for Protection of the Harbour Limited 2006, One Pacific Place, Tel (852) 2845-8138 Central Reclamation Phase III - HCAL 102 of 2003
The CFA Judgment pronounced that the Government has been using the wrong interpretation and application of the Protection of the Harbour Ordinance and that the decision affected all reclamation proposals by the Government. This CFA decision therefore also affects the Central Reclamation Outline Zoning Plan ("the Plan") which was unlawfully made and needs to be reviewed in accordance with the 'overriding public need' test prescribed by the CFA Judgment. The Harbour Society had written to the Chief Executive-in-Council ("Exco") that the Plan be reviewed by the Town Planning Board ("the Board") which was the maker of the original Plan. Exco refused to do so. The Harbour Society therefore had no alternative but to institute the Central Reclamation Judicial Review to seek the Court's assistance to order the Government to send the Plan back to the Board for review in order to ensure that the Plan will properly complied with the 'overriding public need' test. The 'overriding public need' test requires Exco to show that there is a compelling present public need for reclamation which must be the minimum and there must be no reasonable alternative. The Society based its case on the following grounds:- 1. As the Plan was unlawfully made, it must be reviewed by the Board as the original maker of the Plan. Under the Town Planning Ordinance, the Board is the only authority empowered by law to make outline zoning plans for Hong Kong and not Exco. 2. Exco's decisions are made behind close doors and there is no opportunity for public objections and public participation. Under the Town Planning Ordinance, the Board must consult the public and give the public an opportunity of raising objections. 3. Exco is the applicant of reclamation and should not be the judge of its own cause. 4. The plan includes one million square feet of reclamation which is not needed for the Central Wanchai Bypass. Furthermore, 5.1 hectares are for commercial use and will be sold to developers for commercial development. Therefore the Plan on the face of it does not comply with the CFA Judgment as the proposed reclamation is excessive. The present Judgment does not pronounce the Central Reclamation to be lawful nor that the Plan complies with the test prescribed by the CFA Judgment. It only pronounces that Exco has no legal duty to refer the plan to the Board for review. The Judgment nevertheless states: "It may well have been preferable to remit the Plan to the Board, at least regarding the extent of reclamation". Therefore even the Judge could see the good sense in Exco referring the plan to the Board for review even if the Judgment is correct that Exco had no legal duty to do so. Our Society is examining the present Judgment and seeking Counsel's advice on the possibility and advisability of an appeal to the Court of Final Appeal.
Recent Newsletters Letter from Christine Loh
Dear Friends, Thank you for joining with us and the many other Hong Kong people who love Victoria Harbour. Your work to Protect the Harbour is very important at this critical time. Winston Chu, our former chairman, will continue to give advice on legal matters since the Society has to continue to fight in court to protect the harbour with the appeal case now set for early December. The legal work remains a top priority for the Society. Alongside our legal preparation work, I will be working with you to get out the message that Hong Kong people will not allow Victoria Harbour to be destroyed. In order to do this, our Society needs to do more research on how the harbour-front can be better planned, including traffic flow, to show that reclamation is not the only or best option for Hong Kong. I am sure that you will understand that the new research will take a little time to sort out. We would like to inform you that the 9th November event has been postponed until further notice. We would like to thank you for the support that members gave during this time. We are currently working out a campaign plan which I will need your help to spread the message to others so I will be keeping you informed about our progress. For more information, you can contact Miss Hilary Chu at hchu@civic-exchange.org. Thank you and welcome to the fight to Protect our beautiful Hong Kong Harbour! Regards,
January 8, 2004 Court of Final Appeal (CFA) for Wanchai
The Court of Final Appeal hearing on the Town Planning Board’s (TPB) appeal against the High Court’s decision on the draft Wan Chai North Outline Zoning Plan was handed down from the 9th December 2003. The board appealed against the High Court’s judgment to seek clarification of the Honourable Madam Justice Chu’s interpretation of the Protection of the Harbour Ordinance ("the Ordinance"), which was in favour of the Harbour Society. The CFA as the highest Law Court of Hong Kong will provide the most authoritative interpretation on the Protection of the Harbour Ordinance by confirming the judgment of the High Court handed down on 8 July 2003. The Ordinance comprises of three parts: The CFA’s interpretation of the Ordinance could have far-reaching implications on future planning and development of the harbour front. By adopting a wrong interpretation of the Ordinance, the Government had tried to reclaim a total of 584 hectares of the Harbour within the past 7 years and had gazetted the following projects:-
Once the CFA has clarified the proper interpretation of the Ordinance,
and if it is in favour of the Harbour Society, the Government should
conscientiously comply with its legal duty to protect and preserve
the Harbour against reclamation and stop all current reclamation
projects until further comprehensive review. December 4, 2003 29-11-03 Newsletter
Dear Friends, Welcome to Friends of the Harbour! Please excuse us for our silence over the last few weeks. We have had to spend the time to sort out internal logistics and carry on with important work to promote and protect Victoria Harbour. Let me give you a progress report now on what we have been doing. We have just published a pamphlet: "The Harbour Primer - What you need to know about harbour reclamation". This is a public education document to provide background information and show how to stop excessive reclamation. We are printing 240,000 copies for distribution. With the help of the South China Morning Post and Ming Pao, we will be able to reach a wide public. Distribution date is currently targeted for 1 December. Please let us know if you would like hardcopies for distribution among your friends and colleagues. You can collect copies by calling 2893-0213. We also have an electronic version. This is currently available at www.friendsoftheharbour.org. Please help us! Our website is also currently being re-vamped. New features, such as forums, photo gallery, diary of our events etc are being created. We hope to launch our new website by the end of next week, so please come and visit us then!! Please note our current and upcoming events: 1. Thursday, 27th November 2003 (11:00 ¡V 12:00) ¡V Press Conference to present our minimum reclamation plans for Central and Wanchai prepared by our own experts. 2. Thursday, 27th November 2003 ¡V Legco Hearing where Christine Loh (the chairperson of the Society for Protection of the Harbour) and Winston Chu will present the Society for Protection of the Harbour¡¦s case to legislators. Relevant papers and information could be retrieve by visiting the Legislative Council Secretariat website at: http://www.legco.gov.hk/...../agenda/plag1127j.htm 3. Friday, 28th November 2003 ¡V HK Institute of Engineers Annual Dinner where Christine Loh has been invited as a guest-speaker and she will raise a few issues on reclamation. 4. Sunday, 30th November and 7th December ¡V ¡§Reclamation ABC¡¨ which
will take place at Handball Court in the Victoria Park starting
at 10am. For further information related to this event, please visit:
http://www.live-arch.net/main.html 5. Tuesday, 9th December ¡V Court of Final Appeal hearing for Wanchai reclamation begins. If you want to know more, please contact Miss Hilary Chu at hchu@civic-exchange.org. FOTH will also be having regular meetings from now on. Thank you for supporting our campaign to fight and protect our beautiful Victoria Harbour!!
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