Park Island, Ma Wan, Hong Kong

As promised, here is an update on the discussions I have had with the Hong Kong Planning Department and the Hong Kong Transport Department. First, below is the actual response I received in relation to submissions and inquiries related to allowing access and car parking for private cars for Park Island residents.  This office has consulted Transport Department on your proposal. T his email serves as a coordinated reply by Planning Department and Transport Department. The construction of the Airport Core Projects had impacts on the planning for Ma Wan. The Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok is about 12km to the west. The Lantau Link, which is the major transport link between Lantau and the urban area, passes over Ma Wan. Ma Wan is located at a prominent location along the Tsing Ma and Lantau transport corridor and subject to traffic capacity and infrastructure constraints. Comprehensive planning and control on development on the island with due regard to ...

I've written on the topic of car access to Park Island for residents before and it is always a topic of interest, both to Park Island residents who prefer not to have car access (due to wanting to limit public access/noise/pollution etc) to Park Island, and those who prefer to have cars, due to both the convenience and the likely significant boost in property prices that would undoubtedly result (welcomed by owners, but no so much by those of who rent apartments on Park Island.). See:  http://parkislandhongkong.blogspot.sg/2010/11/will-private-cars-ever-be-allowed-on.html I recently received an interesting "unofficial" update today from a senior Hong Kong Transport Department official that I will now share. As some of you may know, in the past, one main reason cited for not allowing private cars for residents of Park Island has been that the Transport Department had concerns about the effect on traffic congestion over the Tsing Ma Bridge and...

Today's SCMP reports that property developer HKR International plans to build six "super-deluxe" houses ranging in size from 6,000 to 8,000 square feet on Discovery Bay. "Each house will enjoy spectacular sea views and the project will be located next to the Discovery Bay Golf Club," said Chan Chi-ming, the head of the Hong Kong business unit at HKR, the developer of Discovery Bay. Agents said the houses planned by HKR could fetch more than HK$150 million each (which by the way makes our most expensive apartments on Park Island look very cheap by comparison!). "Due to their scarcity, they will be sought-after by the rich and famous.". There are 17 houses on Discovery Bay, each of them 5,168 sq ft, with gardens ranging from 6,000 to 9,000 sq ft. One of the houses on Seabee Lane is on the market for HK$120 million. Negotiations with the government over the land premium payable for the proposed project, which will be the 16th phase ...