Golf Club seeks judicial review over public flats plan
The Hong Kong Golf Club said on Friday that it's challenging the government’s decision to build public housing on part of its course in Fanling.  It said it's seeking a judicial review of officials’ approval of an environmental impact assessment report that paves way for the construction of thousands of public flats.  The club noted that there were mistakes in the way the assessment report was done, and said it hopes the judicial process will ensure procedural justice as well as highlight the importance of public participation. The environmental impact assessment report earlier concluded that nine of the 32 hectares the administration is recovering are suitable for building flats, while more than 20 hectares of land with higher ecological value should be conserved. The government had approved the report in May on the condition that authorities do enough to preserve forest land in the development area.  In response to the legal challenge, the Development Bureau said the judicial review application will not change its plan to recover 32 hectares of the golf course when the lease expires in September, nor will it affect the work of the Town Planning Board.