150 trees felled on sites zoned green belt

SCMP on Feb 07, 2009 Cheung Chi-fai

About 150 trees have been chopped down in Sai Kung on sites that have not yet been approved for housing development, but planning and lands officials said there was little they could do about it.

The trees near Nam A village, close to Tai Mong Tsai, were cut down about a month ago, nearby residents said.

Most of the felled trees were located on four private sites zoned as green belts, where developers are seeking permission from the Town Planning Board to build small houses.

Some of the felled trees were on government land.

Michael Lee Siu-fung, conservation officer with WWF Hong Kong, visited the sites yesterday. He said some of the felled trees had a diameter the size of about 1 1/2 men, and that the damage inflicted on the woodland could not be reversed in the short term.

He said it was not uncommon for some developers of small houses to jump the gun by cutting down trees or filling in ponds on the proposed sites, before their building applications were approved.

Green belts were set up to limit such developments, he said, urging the board to carefully consider any application for developments.

James Wong, from community organisation Friends of Sai Kung, urged the board to reject the Sai Kung application.

The board is expected to discuss the application next month.

A spokeswoman for the Planning Department said the board would consider the application based on its guidelines, which currently target only unauthorised development such as pond filling and illegal dumping.

The Lands Department said it could not act over the felled tree on the private sites because they were old agricultural land whose leases excluded any protection for trees.

A spokeswoman for the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said the illegal felling of trees on government land was being investigated. "We received complaints [about it] in mid-January, and we have sent an officer to inspect the site but could not find who was responsible for the cut," she said.

An expatriate resident from a nearby village alleged that the trees were cut down as part of a bigger plan by influential landlords to build about 300 small houses on a large piece of wetland in the vicinity.

"This is the last remaining piece of wetland in Sai Kung which is full of natural wildlife like wild boars, barking deer, dragonfly and butterfly," said the resident, who declined to be named.

He said other villagers said the landlords planned to build an access road leading to the wetland, which is surrounded by the villages of Nam A, O Tau and Long Keng, where felling of trees had been a problem.

He said many concerned residents had objected to the rezoning proposed by the landlords and claimed they had subsequently been targets of intimidation because of their objections.