This May 24, 2018, file photo shows people playing golf at the Hong Kong Golf Club’s Fanling Golf Course. (PHOTO / AFP)
HONG KONG – The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government has appealed a recent court ruling that overturned the government’s approval of an environmental study into plans to build public flats at the Fanling Golf Course.
The Court of First Instance, on Dec 2, quashed a decision by the Director of Environmental Protection to approve the environmental impact assessment report for the development.
The government had originally planned to build 12,000 public housing units on part of the city’s oldest golf course.
After conducting a detailed review of the CFI ruling with the legal team, the Environmental Protection Department cannot agree with parts of the rulings and has therefore decided to appeal, an EPD spokesman said in a statement on Monday evening.
The EPD explained that one of the grounds for its appeal is that the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (EIAO) clearly sets out mechanisms and timelines for public consultation, balancing the need for public participation with certainty around project development.
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The CFI ruling essentially requested an additional public consultation, which the EPD said is beyond the scope of the statutory framework established by the EIAO, which would make it impossible to reasonably conduct the entire environmental impact assessment process normally, it said.
An additional public consultation would cause continuous delays, creating detrimental impacts and uncertainty on project development, contrary to the legislative intent of the EIAO, it added.
“The ruling would have significant systemic impacts on ongoing and future environmental impact assessments, in particular, it may lead to serious delays in development, operation and execution of the development proposals,” reads the statement.
In appealing to the Court of Appeal, the EPD said it aimed to ensure the legitimate and practicable interpretation of the relevant legislation and the specific implementation of the EIAO processes.
The appeal is not solely about the proposed housing project but, more importantly, obtaining clarity from the Court of Appeal on various principles and legal issues relating to the environmental impact assessment framework, said the HKSAR government.
It reaffirmed that its policy is to strike a balance between environmental protection and development for the overall benefit of Hong Kong.
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As an interested party in this judicial review, the Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD) has also lodged an appeal against the judgment to the Court of Appeal.
The Development Bureau (DEVB) meanwhile said that the CFI judgment will have a substantial impact on the housing yield and on the completion date.
The Court of Appeal’s review of the matter may further affect the proposed housing project. The DEVB and the CEDD said they will conduct assessments based on the latest circumstances, with regard to aspects including the housing yield, the timetable of the proposed project, and the progress of the appeal process.
As such, the CEDD said it would need extra time to conduct its review on the scale of the housing development.
