an unwelcome development

There are five ways out of our village. Two are single-track roads (with passing places); one is a footpath that eventually reaches the same place as one of the roads; and one is the footpath we follow if walking into Fanling. The fifth route is the Drainage Services Department (DSD) access road that runs alongside the Ng Tung River:

Although the signs are explicit—‘No Entry’—it didn’t take us long to notice that nobody appeared to pay any attention to them, and we found that a stroll along the river was a pleasant experience, because although the DSD access road is not accessible to motor vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists could simply pass through the conveniently provided gap.

Other branches of government were clearly aware that this road was a popular leisure resource for locals:

I wrote in 2011 (Owt Fresh?) about the solar-powered streetlights that had been installed by North District Board while I’d been away in the UK for the summer, and prior to that, the Home Affairs Department had built covered seating at strategic intervals along the river, presumably after consulting the DSD. Although the DSD continued to maintain its ‘keep out’ stance (I took the above photo last winter), this prohibition has now been relaxed. ‘No Entry’ is no longer inscribed on the signs at the access point.

Unfortunately, back in October signs appeared warning people that access would be prohibited from 1st November. The signs referred to a ‘Fanling east bypass’, which struck me as both unnecessary and unwelcome. The eastern boundary of Fanling is currently defined by Ma Sik Road, a four-lane dual carriageway that carries a lot of traffic but is never congested, but between this road and the river, there is a wide area of land that was extensively cultivated when we moved here in 2008.

However, in 2011, a local property developer began fencing off the area (Turf Wars), and construction of what I imagine will eventually be a high-rise private residential estate began a couple of years ago. I suspect that the existence of this estate is the main reason behind the plan to construct a ‘bypass’ even further east.

We had been using this DSD access road regularly whenever we wanted to cycle out west, but there are alternatives. However, these involve following cycle tracks through the urban area, which I would prefer not to have to do, because they involve crossing roads at light-controlled junctions, where legally I’m required to get off and push, although I never do so. In any case, the prohibition on the DSD access road hasn’t been rigorously enforced, although some sections have been temporarily blocked off. These can be avoided by paths that only locals like myself know about, but as you can see below, the level of destruction that is envisaged here is truly horrifying, and access for cyclists, and pedestrians, will be impossible.

A few days ago, I noticed that all the trees along the river had been tagged either ‘retain’ or ‘fell’:

…and I couldn’t believe the extent of the planned destruction, which has already started:

These trees are all slated for ‘demolition’:

There are two footbridges across the river, and I’d initially assumed that the planned tree clearance applied only to the section downstream from the first bridge, but that was because the tagging process hadn’t been completed. Every tree between that first bridge and our village is also doomed:

…including two trees that are around 15 metres high:

This implies that the proposed bypass will eventually reach our village, from which, as I pointed out above, the only exits for motor vehicles are single-track roads. But there are other ‘obstacles’ in the way of clearance, and I do wonder whether they will go too. This is an example of the covered seating that I referred to above:

…while this is a pavilion and seating area, outside the DSD road, that was already there when we moved into the area:

This is a view of the final section of the road before it joins the road linking our village with the nearby village of Siu Hang:

The two eucalyptus trees in the photo are also about 15 metres tall.

The building in the previous photo is a public toilet that was opened just a couple of years ago:

Is that also slated for destruction?

Incidentally, there aren’t many trees on the river side of the DSD road, but the one in this photo has also been tagged ‘fell’, even though it has a trunk almost a metre in diameter, and it doesn’t appear to interfere with any planned new road hereabouts (I featured the red flowers that you can see in Autumn Flowers #3):

Hong Kong is always changing, but from my perspective this is one change too far!