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Hill battle ahead for Tsang

Hong Kong Standard — 7 March 2011

Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun- wah is “jumping the gun” by announcing in his budget the demolition of the West Wing on Government Hill as a foregone conclusion, an alliance of heritage protection groups warned yesterday.

Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun- wah is “jumping the gun” by announcing in his budget the demolition of the West Wing on Government Hill as a foregone conclusion, an alliance of heritage protection groups warned yesterday.

The newly formed Government Hill Concern Group, comprising 20 groups including the Central and Western Concern Group, Heritage Hong Kong and the Professional Commons, said the consultation procedure is still in progress.

Professional Commons’ chairman Albert Lai Kwong-tak accused the government of violating procedure and misleading the public by announcing the decision prior to the release of the public consultation by the Development Bureau.

Lai said Government Hill is of high historical significance because it has been the seat of administration since the earliest days of Hong Kong’s existence as a British colony.

During a public guided tour yesterday, Lai outlined the preservation value of various locations on the hill, including the air raid tunnel network, Murray Battery and a complex of three wings.

“This is the most extensive air raid tunnel network in the territory,” he told tour members.

“I fear that part of it will be demolished as developers are planning to hollow out the hill for a five-story shopping mall.”

The combination of the offices, Government House, St John’s Cathedral and the French Mission Building gave rise to the name Government Hill as early as 1842.

Tsang said in his budget that “when the new Central Government Complex at Tamar comes into operation, the Main and East Wings of the Central Government Offices will be used by the Department of Justice and the West Wing will be demolished for redevelopment into Grade A offices.”

Katty Law Ngar-ning, convener of the Central and Western Concern Group, urged Tsang to withdraw his statement and reconsider retaining the whole site for public use. The group submitted a planning application to the Town Planning Board, opposing the sale of the hill for commercial development.

It also urged the government to rezone the site as a heritage precinct, instead of selling a large chunk of it to developers.

The alliance said it collected more than 1,000 signatures of support from citizens in the past few weeks and called on the public to comment on their submission before Friday.

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