San Tin Technopole was formerly known as San Tin/Lok Ma Chau Development Node without any pond-filling. The proposal for extension of San Tin Technopole was suddenly announced in May 2023. The development scale increased dramatically almost by half, which will involve extensive fishpond reclamation.

Transforming from a plan without involving pond-filling to a plan with extensive wetland loss, the new proposal gave rise to controversy. One of the criticisms is that the new development was found to have intruded into the "Mai Po Inner Deep Bay Ramsar Wetland of International Importance". It gave an impression that the government did not take the global convention into serious account.

In December, the government eventually admitted that the proposal overlapped with the Ramsar Site. The development footprint was then adjusted in to exclude the 1-hectare land to avoid touching on the important wetland listed under global convention.

Despite the minor adjustment, the latest footprint of San Tin Technopole still encroaches into about 175 hectares of the internationally recognized "Inner Deep Bay and Shenzhen River catchment area" Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA).

In addition, San Tin Technopole also infringes 150 hectares of Wetland Conservation Area and 97 hectares of Wetland Buffer Area.

San Tin Technopole grabs the 240-hectare wetlands that were originally studied for the establishment of the Sam Po Shue Wetland Conservation Park. The size of the Park will be reduced by 40%.

After reviewing official plans and consultation documents from the past seven years, the government has consistently considered ecologically sensitive areas such as wetland conservation areas and egret breeding colonies. Careful planning has been undertaken in the development of San Tin and Lok Ma Chau area to avoid direct impacts on wetlands and wildlife.

In May 2021, the government officially submitted a project profile to the Environmental Protection Department regarding the San Tin/Lok Ma Chau Development Node that does not involve filling ponds. The Environmental Protection Department also issued an environmental impact assessment (EIA) Study Brief in June of the same year to specify the scope of environmental issues to be addressed in the EIA study.

In May 2023, the government unexpectedly expanded the scale of the San Tin development but insisted on using the old study brief and EIA study, rather than submitting a new EIA application.