Dr Lau Chi-pang, chairman of the Advisory Committee on Built Heritage Conservation argued that Queen’s Pier should be restored in “more spacious” locations which are “more frequented by the public”, such as Tung Chung.
ALLEN AU-YEUNG
UPDATED : Wednesday, 18 May, 2016, 2:01pm
A local tour junk berthing at Queen's Pier in 2006. The pier was dismantled in 2007. Photo: Robert Ng
The head of a government advisory committee on heritage conservation has floated the possibility of relocating the now-dismantled Queen’s Pier to Lantau Island, attracting instant condemnation and ridicule.
As a public consultation on the restoration project drew to a close yesterday, Dr Lau Chi-pang, chairman of the newly formed Advisory Committee on Built Heritage Conservation, questioned the functional purpose of reassembling the historic structure between ferry piers 9 and 10 in Central. The location is the only option the government has set out in the consultation document, with an estimated cost of between HK$230 million and HK$303 million.
Instead, Lau, also a Lingnan University history scholar, argued Queen’s Pier should be restored in “more spacious” locations which were “more frequented by the public”, such as Tung Chung.
“The look of the Central harbourfront now is very different from when Queen’s Pier appeared,” Lau said. “We squeeze Queen’s Pier in between two piers, is that a good way? I have reservations.”
Lau added: “Are you in a rush to use the pier or exhibit something? Apparently not.
“Can we have more time to consider? Today’s society has changed and we have other spaces ... putting it on Lantau Island is a better option, isn’t it?”
Lau cited the relocation of Blake Pier and Murray House in Central to Stanley, which he described as “good examples”.
The last-minute input from the chief of the government-appointed committee left community activists unsure if officials were testing the waters on revising the proposed restoration plan, even though they have already spent nearly a decade gathering public feedback.
Harbourfront Commission member Ivan Ho Man-yiu questioned Lau’s suggestion. “Putting it on Lantau Island ... Why don’t you put it in mainland China, in England, or along the River Thames? Maybe that has more heritage commemorative value,” he said.
“The last thing I want to see is the discussion on restoring Queen’s Pier drag on for another decade.”
Community activist Paul Zimmerman of Designing Hong Kong, who reiterated his call for the return of the pier to its original location in front of Edinburgh Place, said he would not support relocating it so far away.
“The further away you put it from its original location, the less relevance it has historically,” he said. Zimmerman also said placing Queen’s Pier between piers 9 and 10 in Central was “convoluted” and “expensive”.
Central and Western Concern Group convenor Katty Law Ngar-ning said the view the relocation of Murray House was a “good example” overlooked the fact that the former army barracks lost its Grade 1 historic status after it was relocated to Stanley in 2000 because its heritage value had depreciated.
Dating back to 1953, Queen’s Pier served as a public jetty and a ceremonial spot for the arrival and departure of Hong Kong’s governors during British colonial rule. It was dismantled in 2007.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1946626/conservation-chiefs-plan-move-queens-pier-lantau-island-mocked
