Luxury estates targeted for more housing
Southern District eyes 14 sites, including several exclusive areas, to build 10,400 public and private flats as part of government initiative
Some luxury estates and secluded areas in the Southern District are to be further built up as part of the government's initiative to build 470,000 new homes in the next decade.
In a paper submitted to the Southern District Council for discussion on Thursday, the Planning Department proposes rezoning 14 sites in the district to build 10,400 public and private flats.
Five of these sites are planned to be developed in the next two years, with two green belt sites on Wong Ma Kok Road, Stanley, earmarked for private housing and three other sites in Pok Fu Lam destined for public housing: in Wah Fu (North), Wah King Street and Wah Lok Path.
The latest plan comes after the proposed rezoning of green belts for residential use in other parts of Hong Kong - most notably in Tai Wo Ping, Sham Shui Po, and Lo Fai Road, in Tai Po - sparked protests by residents of luxury flats nearby.
While the exact locations of the nine other sites planned for development beyond 2016 have yet to be announced, the department said they were "mainly slopes or land covered by short-term tenancy in close proximity to existing residential developments". Seven of them are currently zoned as green belt areas.
Some of these sites are near existing upscale homes in Red Hill Peninsula, in Tai Tam; Shouson Hill, by Deep Water Bay; and on Stanley Village Road.
The plan also involves the rezoning of the three sites in Pok Fu Lam for new public housing, where residents of the nearby Wah Fu Estate may have to be relocated as the estate will be redeveloped.
