(e)
(f)..
(g)
(h)
(i)
the difference in efficiency between the two airports would eventually be reflected in higher charges for Deep Bay;
military considerations might also reduce the capacity of the airport;
the risk of birdstrike would mean eliminating the Mai Po marshes as a bird sanctuary and the risk would continue to exist at an unacceptable level for as long as any mud flats remained in Deep Bay;
there would be difficulties with regard to shipping which do not exist at CLK. One of the causes of difficulty might be the development of the proposed port at She Kou, allegedly to take feeder container ships which would then have to skirt the ends of the take- off surfaces of two runways; and
a Deep Bay siting would have all the dis- advantages involved in approaches over populated areas whereas the CLK airport could be built and operated without severe environmental or safety impact either on population or wild life.
Political considerations involved
in the siting of a replacement
airport in Deep Bay
8
Because of the proximity of the Deep Bay site to China, in practice a Deep Bay airport could be built only in close co-operation with the Chinese authorities, if not in partnership with them.
9
The problems to which this would give rise should not be insoluble in the present state of Hong Kong's relations with China, but there would be serious disadvantages:
(a)
(b)
Hong Kong could in effect lose exclusive control of the project, both as regards construction and operation. (Even a feasibility study of Deep Bay could not be undertaken without the co-operation of Chinese authorities in many areas);
however willing the Chinese might be in principle to co-operate, the inefficiency of the Chinese bureaucracy would almost certainly cause significant (and costly) delays;
SECRET