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    The Town Planning Board today (February 25) gave further consideration to the review application for the hotel and open space development at Ship Street and Kennedy Road, Wan Chai, but rejected it after taking account of the representations made by the applicant at the meeting and careful deliberations.

    "The board recognised that the project would contribute positively to urban renewal in Wan Chai and the applicant had taken considerable efforts to consult the local community on his application and to address the concerns previously raised by the board. Having thoroughly examined the applicant's further submissions and all relevant planning considerations as well as the views expressed by the Legislative Council Members, Wan Chai District Council and the general public, the board remained concerned about the intensity and scale of development, the wall effect and adverse impacts the development would cause," a spokesman for the board said.

    "The major concern of the board was the overall bulk of the development, which was too massive and incompatible with the character of the neighbouring developments at Kennedy Road. The development would create significant visual impact in view of the proposed building mass as compared with the surrounding developments," the spokesman added.

    "The board also deliberated on all the issues related to the proposed development. On traffic, although the road improvement schemes proposed by the applicant could mitigate the anticipated traffic impact, the feasibility and the timing for implementation of the schemes had not been sufficiently demonstrated. The proposed development would involve massive tree felling which was considered not acceptable.  Furthermore, the board was concerned that some of the proposed covered open space within the development might not be able to fulfil the proper and intended function of public open space," the spokesman said.

    The mega tower hotel project was rejected by the Board's Metro Planning Committee in April, 2004. At the review hearing held in July, 2004, the board raised a number of concerns relating to the development scale, traffic, visual, tree felling, open space, and sunlight and ventilation aspects. The applicant made further submissions to address the concerns, and presented a further improvement proposal at the hearing held in December, 2004. As the further improvement proposal contained changes to the earlier submitted proposal considered by the board in July, 2004, the board decided to solicit further public views on the applicant's latest proposal through the Wan Chai District Office. Views of the Legislative Council Members, Wan Chai District Council and the general public were also submitted to the board for consideration today.

Ends/Friday, February 25, 2005

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