Advertisement
Advertisement
Hong Kong housing
Get more with myNEWS
A personalised news feed of stories that matter to you
Learn more
The Environmental Protection Department approved the housing plan for part of the Fanling course last month and it will next go to the planning board. Photo: May Tse

Hong Kong plan to build public housing on golf course faces further delay due to blueprint revisions

  • Development Bureau says proposal needs to be revised at some point next year to accommodate latest conservation requirements
  • Ahead of Town Planning Board next week, club bosses reveal Fanling course shortlisted to hold LIV Golf League event, which would be ‘bigger’ than Sevens

A controversial plan to build public housing on part of Hong Kong’s oldest golf course is set for further delay after the government said it would revise the blueprint.

The announcement came after the Hong Kong Golf Club revealed on Monday afternoon it was in the running to host an LIV Golf League event next year and could act as a bridge between China and the Middle East. The club has warned that if the housing project went ahead, the city might lose out on high-profile tournaments in the future.

The Development Bureau said the housing proposal needed to be revised at some point next year after the Environmental Protection Department approved the project but with conditions, including the preservation of a patch of woodland.

“[It] will inevitably affect the scale and timetable of the proposed public housing development, [but] the government has to respect and follow up on the conditions,” the bureau said.

The project will take up 32 hectares (79 acres) currently occupied by the Old Course. Nine hectares are earmarked for the construction of 12,000 flats, while the remaining 23 hectares will be reserved for conservation and recreational uses. The government will take over the site in September. The club will still have about 140 hectares of land with two complete 18-hole courses, plus 10 holes for a third course.

The bureau said it would change the proposed use of the land from residential to “undetermined” as the original intention was high-density development, which was no longer appropriate. The change in designation was only temporary, and authorities remained committed to building public housing, it said.

Hong Kong’s Taichi Kho takes part in an Asian Tour event at Fanling in March. Photo: Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour

The bureau said the change was “a stopgap arrangement” to provide a buffer period for the government to study the parameters of the new development.

Despite the changes, the Town Planning Board is still expected to decide on the plan by the end of November at the latest.

The bureau said it would start amending the housing plan once planning advisers reached a decision. It would seek approval from environmental authorities by the end of next year and start statutory town planning procedures again after obtaining the green light, it added.

Hong Kong environment authorities conditionally approve golf course development

The board is expected to meet next week to listen to public opinion on the public housing project.

Club officials on Monday said the course had been shortlisted to hold one of the LIV golf circuit’s 14 tournaments in 2024, and claimed it would be “bigger than the Hong Kong Sevens”.

LIV tournaments, which are shorter than traditional golf events, have become notorious for their loud music, beer-throwing fans and on-course entertainment.

“The event is not just an international tournament for professional players,” said club captain Andy Kwok Wing-leung. “It has entertainment activities for the general public and the scale is going to be much bigger than the Hong Kong Sevens.”

LIV, which is backed by Saudi Arabia through the desert kingdom’s Public Investment Fund, sent CEO Greg Norman to conduct a site visit last month to assess the club’s suitability to stage an event.

The Australian made the trip between LIV’s tournaments in Adelaide and Singapore in April, although he is no stranger to the city, having won the Hong Kong Open twice, in 1979 and 1983.

Part of Hong Kong’s Fanling golf course to be sacrificed for flats

Club vice-captain Bryant Lu said it had identified the sections of the Old Course targeted for housing development as ideal places to host entertainment, without affecting the tournament itself.

Lu also highlighted LIV’s interest in the city as a gateway to the Greater Bay Area and the wider Chinese market.

“It is a readily available opportunity for the city to strengthen the mainland’s connection with the Middle East,” he said.

If LIV decided to make the city one of its stops next season, it would be the second Saudi-linked tournament to take place at the golf club, with the Aramco Team Series (ATS) already scheduled for October.

Building on Hong Kong’s oldest course will hurt future of golf: sports body

Announced by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu during his trip to Riyadh in February to drum up investment interest in the city, the ATS is co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour and will be the second of three high-profile tournaments in the city this year.

The club said officials from the Asian Tour, which will hold an event in the city in November, and the ATS would visit Hong Kong to express to the planning board their concerns about the effect of the housing project on their events.

Asian Tour and European Tour officials have already written to the board saying any development at Fanling would likely lead to the end of top professional golf being held in the city.

Asked if the club would launch a judicial challenge against the housing plan, captain Kwok said the club would consider any proposal leading to the goal of organising large-scale tournaments in the golf course.

13