Subject: [Hong Kong] Last day to object Nam Sang Wai development [Print This Page] Author: HKBWS Chuan Time: 20/12/2013 12:14 Subject: Last day to object Nam Sang Wai development
Please let the Town Planning Board know your concerns for the Nam Sang Wai development. It will only take a minute!
The development would destroy an area of reedbed with high ecological value where bird species of conservation interest (Purple Heron, Yellow Bittern, Eurasian Bittern, Eastern Marsh Harrier and Chinese Penduline-tit) roosts at.
Nam Sang Wai is a regionally important roosting site for Great Cormorants and supports 30-60% of the Deep Bay population. In January 2013, the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society recorded 6035 individuals of Great Cormorants were recorded there, about 6% of the regional population. The development will cause visual, noise and light pollution impacts to the roosts.
The adjacent Kam Tin River is tidally influenced and sedimentation has taken place over time to create a layer of natural muddy substrate which provide a suitable foraging ground for waterbirds species and ardeids of conservation importance including globally important species like the endangered Black-faced Spoonbill. Construction and increased of human activities from the development would discourage birds from using this area
The proposed water between the rows of houses and the portion of retained/created reedbed next to the residential development will experience high levels of human disturbances and is unlikely to provide suitable habitat for sensitive bird species. Any fauna found at these areas would be strictly limited to disturbance-tolerant species of low ecological value which would not be equivalent to the current ecological value of Nan Sang Wai. The area of wetland loss as provided by the applicant can be considered as underestimated from an ecological standpoint.
Although the applicant has increased the size of the Wetland Enhancement Area from 55.7 ha to 70.9 ha by including the existing reedbed and mangroves, they failed to provide details as to what types of management will be undertaken and also how this would contribute to the enhancement of the wetland. Without this, the applicant’s claim to increase the size of Wetland Enhancement Area would simply be an arbitrary concept.
There are three other applications for residential developments within 500 m of Nam Sang Wai and also with the recently approved Fung Lok Wai residential development, the cumulative impacts to the ecological integrity of Deep Bay need to be assessed properly.
Thanks John! Author: John Holmes Time: 20/12/2013 16:35 Subject: Nam Sang Wai Review
I have also registered my views...
Dear Sirs;
The developer (applicant) has applied for a review of the Town Planning Board's refusal to grant planning permission made earlier this year (2013).
The site is still within the Deep Bay Buffer Zone and -my understanding is that - any development approved should be for the overall PUBLIC good.
The so-called Nature Reserve aspect of the development, the "Social Welfare Facility" etc., are merely added extras to bolster a pretense that this is anything other than a commercial property development, and a large one at that. Such a large development would change the character of the Nam Sang Wai area irrevocably.
Nam Sang Wai has been a magnificent sight this winter with thousands of Great Cormorants flying to and from their roosts there. It would be a travesty of the spirit of the planning process to allow a development such as this to go ahead.
Your decision to REFUSE this application should be maintained.
Yours faithfully,
John Holmes
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