'Rare plant delays zoning decision' (by A. So, South China Morning Post, November 4, 2000)
With the intensive rural development and increasing land demand in Hong Kong from the late 1970s, policy related to land use became a more complicated task as people paid much more attention to the prime land than ever. The government has been putting efforts in environmental conservation; however, society's development continuously needed more land for both industrial and residential purposes. Adding to the dilemma, the government's claim to use of indigenously held land (either for conservation or development) was strongly rejected by the land's owners and dwellers. One of the main grounds for challenging the government has been the small-house policy enacted in 1972. Being able to build small houses within the village zone has been considered the indigenous rights claimed by local inhabitants in the leased territories; however, the increasing demand of house land requires village zones to be re-drawn. As we have seen from the case of Tai Long Wan, villagers expected to have some farm land converted into house land in order to have enough land for potential small-house applicants, yet, the government and many conservation groups have other considerations. In 2001, a village in Tai Long was graded as a historical settlement but future directions of restoration were not discussed yet.
Pak Lap
During the late seventeenth century, the Qing court encouraged migration to the coastal region after the Ming loyalist regime under Zheng Chenggong on Taiwan was pacified. Therefore, Hakka villages spread all over the eastern New Territories in Hong Kong including Sai Kung were mostly founded around that period. The second village, Pak Lap, shared a similar historical background with Tai Long Wan; more importantly, as far as I know, it is the only traditional village settlement in Hong Kong restored and developed into a small-scale rental-based resort houses. (for more information, see their homepage at: http://go.to/paklap). However, it was not planned in that way at the very beginning of the restoration. The story goes back to the early 1980s when Hong Kong was enjoying its economic achievements through the development of trading, finance, banking, and tourism industry.
Page 60
Page 61
'Rare plant delays zoning decision' (by A. So, South China Morning Post, November 4, 2000)
With the intensive rural development and increasing land demand in Hong Kong from the late 1970s, policy related to land use became a more complicated task as people paid much more attention to the prime land than ever. The government has been putting efforts in environmental conservation; however, society's development continuously needed more land for both industrial and residential purposes. Adding to the dilemma, the government's claim to use of indigenously held land (either for conservation or development) was strongly rejected by the land's owners and dwellers. One of the main grounds for challenging the government has been the small-house policy enacted in 1972. Being able to build small houses within the village zone has been considered the indigenous rights claimed by local inhabitants in the leased territories; however, the increasing demand of house land requires village zones to be re-drawn. As we have seen from the case of Tai Long Wan, villagers expected to have some farm land converted into house land in order to have enough land for potential small-house applicants, yet, the government and many conservation groups have other considerations. In 2001, a village in Tai Long was graded as a historical settlement but future directions of restoration were not discussed yet.
Pak Lap
During the late seventeenth century, the Qing court encouraged migration to the coastal region after the Ming loyalist regime under Zheng Chenggong on Taiwan was pacified. Therefore, Hakka villages spread all over the eastern New Territories in Hong Kong including Sai Kung
were mostly founded around that period. The second village, Pak Lap, shared a similar historical background with Tai Long Wan; more importantly, as far as I know, it is the only traditional village settlement in Hong Kong restored and developed into a small-scale rental based resort houses. (for more information, see their homepage at: http://go.to/paklap). However, it was not planned in that way at the very beginning of the restoration. The story goes back to the early 1980s when Hong Kong was enjoying its economic achievements through the development of trading, finance, banking, and tourism industry.
Page 60Page 61
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.