Developers have scored another success in their battle to build properties around the environmentally sensitive Mai Po marshes, with a 558,000 square foot project winning Town Planning Board approval.
Privately held Yan Hing Mining yesterday convinced the board to allow its Tin Fook Wai residential project to proceed.
Copying the success of Cheung Kong (Holdings) for its nearby Fung Lok Wai project, Yan Hing has undertaken to preserve most of the fish ponds and incorporate a conservation management fund.
A board spokesman said Yan Hing proposed to retain 95 per cent of the 28.8-hectare lot, all fish ponds, and use the remaining 5 per cent for property development. The developer would break up the bunds of fish ponds to compensate for any loss in wetland area.
It would also set up a wetland trust to fund management of the retained fish ponds.
The spokesman said the proposal was similar to the Fung Lok Wai scheme, which had previously secured approval.