Lai See | Do you prefer a car park in Stanley or a car park in Stanley?

The controversial proposal by Southern District Council to build a multi-storey car park in Stanley has taken an interesting twist recently. District councillor Chan Lee Pui-ying has sensibly prepared a questionnaire to assess how local residents feel about this project. So far so good. However, it is no secret that the project has aroused considerable opposition in Stanley among residents who say that while traffic is bad at weekends for several months of the year, there are plenty of available car parking spaces during the week. And although there are a considerable number of expatriates resident in Stanley who speak English and French, Chan's questionnaire was only written in Chinese.

When it was translated people were somewhat surprised and annoyed. The questionnaire explains that she is seeking residents' views on the proposed car park.

The first question is: "Do you agree development should occur underneath the Stanley bus terminal rather than above ground?" Respondents were invited to tick one of two boxes to indicate if they agreed or disagreed. The second question was: "Do you agree with the project design?" There was then a space for other views. It does not take a statistical maestro to see that the conclusion of this "survey" will be that most people are in favour of a new car park whether it is above or below the ground. The missing question of course is: "Do you think there is a need for a car park?"

Another survey has now been suggested by an irritated Stanley resident, asking: "Do you think Mrs Chan Lee Pui-ying should resign as soon as possible as opposed to resigning immediately?"

Our piece on the plan for a boutique hotel at 27 Lugard Road has attracted some attention and it is such an absurd decision that it is worth dwelling on it further. The Alliance for a Beautiful Hong Kong (ABHK) has done sterling work on this, though it has so far proved to be in vain.