NEWS & EVENTS ONLINE EXCLUSIVE

Public flats to be built on Fanling golf course

On 20 February, the government announced that thousands of public flats will be built on part of Hong Kong’s Fanling golf course starting from 2024, as reported by the South China Morning Post.

This controversial move is part of the government’s plans to ramp up land supply and tackle the city’s housing crisis, as they confirmed it would fully endorse all eight recommendations by an official task force.

Secretary for Development Michael Wong Wai-lun said authorities would take back 32 hectares of the 172-hectare Fanling site, run by the Hong Kong Golf Club, after 2023 to build at least 4,600 flats, more than half of which would be for public housing. A detailed technical study would be completed before 2021 to figure out how many flats should be built at the site, he added.

Wong said. “There are no painless solutions. The decision reflects a very careful balance between the need for more housing in the short-to-medium term, and the contribution of Fanling Golf Course to golf development.”

The golf club’s lease will expire in August 2020, and it will be granted a special three-year holdover period until 2023 as it prepares to lose the 32 hectares.

The Home Affairs Bureau said it would renew the golf club’s lease for the rest of the grounds until June 2027, after taking into consideration that it was an “essential training base” for golfers.

The rare move to redevelop the century-old golf course won majority public support as many felt it was occupying prime land for the benefit of a privileged few i.e., 2,600 club members, and many of them are among the city’s political and business elite.

The Hong Kong Golf Association issued a statement saying it was “greatly distressed” by the government’s decision, which it said would reduce public access to scarce golfing facilities and “seriously hinder” the sport’s development. — Construction+ Online