Town planning body slammed for neglecting disabled people over Wan Chai plan

Disabled residents and a former lawmaker have slammed Hong Kong’s town planning authorities for failing to consider accessibility needs and overlooking potential fire safety risks in an approved development plan for Wan Chai, calling for a review to make the area more barrier-free.

Former social welfare sector lawmaker Tik Chi-yuen said on Thursday that the Town Planning Board-approved, high-density development plan covering Sau Wa Fong and Nam Koo Terrace failed to take into account its impact on those in need.

St Francis Street is a major thoroughfare in the neighbourhood connecting Queen’s Road East to the Starstreet Precinct, but its steep and narrow one-way path already poses barriers to residents with disabilities, including those using wheelchairs.

Tik noted the development under the Wan Chai Outline Zoning Plan would have more than 500 flats, and warned that the influx of residents could worsen traffic congestion on the street and heighten safety risks in the event of a fire.

He added that a planned barrier-free lift connecting Sau Wa Fong and St Francis Street would only take residents to the sloping street, meaning that the area would remain inaccessible to those with disabilities.

He said the designs violated the Disability Discrimination Ordinance and the principles of universal design intended to create a barrier-free environment.

“This project has created an undesirable precedent. The government only looked at one aspect of the development,” said Tik, who is also chairman of the Third Side party.