TNAG-0774-FCO40-978-Redevelopment-of-the-former-Kowloon-Canton-Railway-Station-1978 — Page 50

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were not appointed until late summer and much of their work could be applicable to a re-designed complex.. We are firmly convinced that in view of the proposed completion date for the first stage of the complex, 1982, there is still time to hold an International Architectural Design Competition.

We repeat our previous statement that since the preliminary designs for the Cultural Complex were prepared, many new fac- tors that should have a considerable influence on the planning of the peninsula have inevitably been ignored. These include: the possibility of the KCR extension, the Mass Transit Railway and the future of the harbour ferry.

It is far more important to get a truly integrated and considered plan than a hastily considered and second rate one.

i) It states that the present design of the complex would be totally

changed by the retention of the KCR building. The society would hardly dispute this. Indeed, from the start it has pressed for a selection of different designs to be considered for 'this impor- tant site' as the Government's letter rightly describes it.

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The Heritage Society's principal criticism of the whole matter is precisely that 'this important site' - and the Hong Kong public to whom it belongs are being fobbed off with one hastily con- ceived, ill-considered 'plan' produced, as it were, out of a bureaucratic hat, and that the Tsimshatsui peninsula adjacent to the new amenities is being planned piecemeal, and not as a whole.

We have said many times, that the Cultural Complex site, the .surrounding area of Tsimshatsui, the public, and posterity all deserve to be taken more seriously by the expatriates who are making these decisions and who will not, ultimately, regard Hong Kong as their home. Even if plans are finalised (and we do not believe they are), even if alternative plans mean delays of a year or more, such delays would be justified if the area was given more thought and imagination than it is getting now.

j) It states that an 'independent enquiry will usurp the authority

of the Town Planning Board'. We cannot understand this as there are precedents of the planning processes being circumvented by special committees the Victoria Barracks Planning Committee for instance.

This Society knows that the petition was not formally presented to the Town Planning Board for their consideration, neither was it submitted to the Town Planning Department of the PWD.

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