SCMP: Owner of NT dump site set to be 'rewarded'

Owner of NT dump site set to be 'rewarded'
By: Cheung Chi-fai

The government's position is clear: the owner of a plot of land at a notorious dump site in the New Territories has to remove construction waste piled on it - but if he wants to build a house there, that's fine.

That's the situation as an application by Ho Sheung Heung villager Hau Wai-nam to build a small house on the land goes before the Town Planning Board tomorrow.

It has sparked further accusations that the government is guilty of dereliction of duty in enforcing the law on recalcitrant New Territories landowners, and that there is a loophole in planning procedures that in effect rewards people for defacing land.

Hau, like other owners in the village, has been ordered to remove waste from the mostly agricultural site and regrass it.

But the Planning Department, in a paper prepared for the board, says it has no objection to the house application and the Environmental Protection Department has raised "no adverse comment".

Only the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department opposes the proposal, saying the site was originally good agricultural land and that it has high potential for farming if rehabilitated.

In the paper, a planning official cites strong demand for small houses in the village - up to 300 houses in 10 years - and the proximity to the existing village zone as reasons for the department's support.

The application was lodged in April by Hau, a member of the village clan, who owns a small plot of land at the southern edge of the site where construction waste was dumped from May last year.

As an adult male member of the clan and like other indigenous male descendents in the New Territories, he is entitled to build a three-storey house in his village under a 28-year-old small house policy.

But the way the privilege is being exercised illustrates how the current planning system - that fails to link how land is being used or abused with its proposed land use - gives rise to the practice that is known as "destroy first and build later".

While Hau has been investigated over responsibility for the dumping, he has borne no consequences over what has happened to his property.

He also fought an enforcement notice served on him by the Planning Department from last July until April this year by applying to the Development Bureau for an administrative review.

The Planning Department supports his house application even thought he has yet to satisfy its requirements for restoring the site. He has cleared some of the waste in the past two months but has yet to grass the site as required.

In his application, he proposes to put in more fill to raise the land by a metre to build a solid and flood-free foundation for his house.

Hau is likely to get his way, according to Dr Ng Cho-nam, a former Town Planning Board member who says town planning rule enforcement is detached from planning permission requests.

"Illegal dumping is one issue and a small house application is another. They do not intersect and will not be considered at the same time," he said.

Ng said the board should plug the loophole by amending its guidelines in approving planning permission for small houses, giving weight to previous environmental damage.

Peter Li Siu-man, campaign manager of the Conservancy Association, said the site must be restored before anyone was allowed to build on it. "Even if he has the right to build, it does not overshadow the fact that he violated the law and a law has to be enforced." Yesterday, the Environmental Protection Department said it had successfully prosecuted one truck owner, two drivers and two plant operators for violation of the Waste Disposal Ordinance in relation to the dumping case. Total fines of HK$17,400 had been imposed.


Key dates in the Ho Sheung Heung saga

May-July 2009: Truckloads of construction waste found dumped on several plots

Mid-July 2009: Man Chun-shing arrested after admitting responsibility for some dumping

Late July 2009: Landowners asked to clean up waste within two months

End-July 2009: Fruit trees planted on site after reinstatement notices issued by Planning Department

Late September 2009: Environmental Protection Department says it plans to charge some drivers responsible for dumping; landowners seek administrative review of reinstatement orders

Mid-October 2009: Site covered in green turf, but waste not removed; Man appears in court

January 2010: Lawmakers visit site with environment and planning officials

Late January 2010: Lands officials abort operation to demolish two illegal structures near dumping site due to local opposition

February 2010: Development Bureau rejects some review requests and orders site cleaned up within in two months

April 2010: Landowner seeks to build house partially located on dumping site

Late April 2010: Some landowners start to remove waste

Yesterday: Planning Department says it may prosecute landowners who refuse to remove waste

Photo below by Dickson Lee:
Fragments of gravestones are scattered among waste dumped at a Ho Sheung Heung site.