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Members considered carefully the points made in the written submission and in the representations at the review hearing, and, in particular, the need for the annex building to facilitate the efficient operation of Legislative Council and render it easily accessible to the public.
However, they were not fully convinced that the present design of the proposed building under application was wholly compatible with the use of the Chater Garden as a garden for the public.
The proposed design would also involve transplanting 180 existing trees, out of a total of 280, and raising part of the garden to a level some five metres above ground, causing visual intrusion and possible inconvenience to future park users.
The replacement garden would not be comparable to the mature state of the present garden with interlocking branches of mature trees forming a natural woodland in an urban setting.
After lengthy deliberation, members generally considered that there was scope for extending the annex building further at basement level so as to reduce visual intrusion.
Also, there was a need for the removal/transplanting of existing trees on the site to be reduced.
They were of the view that further improvement to the currently proposed development could be achieved by minimising the intrusiveness of the building structure above ground, reducing the adverse impact on the existing trees and enhancing the accessibility of the replacement garden space.
End/Friday, December 9, 1994
Government House: the story of its unique place in HK's history
An updated and revised version of the story of Government House and its unique place in Hong Kong's history has just been published and is now available at all major bookshops.
Since its completion in 1855, Government House has enjoyed a history as colourful and mixed as that of Hong Kong itself.
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