Proposals for controversial renovation were 'approved illegally and unfairly' argue claimants
JULIE CHUjulie.chu@scmp.com
PUBLISHED : Friday, 20 November, 2015, 12:02am
UPDATED : Friday, 20 November, 2015, 12:02am
The work will reduce the width of the existing pedestrian walkway by 2.5 metres.Photo: K.Y. Cheng
Controversial renovation work which will close the Avenue of Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui to tourists for three years should be stopped because town planners approved it "illegally", according to a legal bid to block the work.
In a challenge to a Town Planning Board decision, Sino-Group associate Murdoch Investments and Shangri-La Hotel (Kowloon) Ltd said the plan was "illegally" and "unfairly" approved.
In their application for a judicial review, the pair said the plan, submitted by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) and the Sustainable Foundation Company Limited - a firm linked to New World Development - contradicted the board's stated aims.
Shangri-La is part of the Kerry Group, the controlling shareholder of SCMP Group, publisher of the South China Morning Post.
The plan - submitted on July 3 - included a new two-storey structure on the waterfront that would reduce the width of the existing pedestrian walkway from 7.5 metres to less than five. It would also slash the number of trees on the walkway, the applicants argued.
Despite the vast majority of the 340 submissions on the renovation plan being in opposition and the fact that members of the board raised objections, the plan was approved.
The applicants argued "this was contrary to the board's policy… tree preservation, relocation and replanting issues, alignment and width of internal roads… are basic or key development parameters which the board should be provided with full details [of] for the purpose of considering the [plan]."
Murdoch and Shangri-La, the registered owners of the Tsim Sha Tsui Centre and the Kowloon Shangri-La Hotel respectively, said the new structure on the site would affect public viewing points around their buildings and feared pedestrian access would also be affected.
"The board must act in accordance with the requirements of fairness," the applicants said.
They asked the court to grant an interim order staying the decision to grant approval.
The department and New World declined to comment for legal reasons. The Town Planning Board also declined to comment.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1880676/controversial-renovation-work-hong-kongs-avenue-stars-was
