Event organisers pick holes in golf course flats plan
International golf event organisers warned on Monday that building thousands of public flats on the course in Fanling could mean Hong Kong will lose out on major tournaments in future. Championship Director of Aramco Team Series Victoria Jones and Asian Tour CEO Cho Minn Thant flew in from Singapore to make representations at a Town Planning Board meeting on behalf of the Hong Kong Golf Club – which opposes the housing proposal. Both Jones and Cho expressed support for preserving the golf course, warning that building on eight of its holes could mean an end to Hong Kong hosting international golfing events.  "It’s extremely likely we have to look at moving to other locations," Jones told reporters after the meeting. "Hong Kong Golf Club is the only venue suitable for the scale of event we deliver. There isn't really another alternative in Hong Kong. It wouldn’t just be the golf club hosting that would miss out. Hong Kong would miss out on these events." Meanwhile, a former director of planning, Ling Kar-kan, voiced his support for the plan, telling the meeting it would help ease the plight of people living in sub-divided units. Ling’s views were echoed by a group of grassroots residents who gathered outside the meeting venue in North Point. Sze Lai-shan, the deputy director of the Society for Community Organisation, said board members should prioritise the needs of poorer people over the concerns of conservationists and other interested parties.  “We worry about how the government balances the voices. Sometimes you cannot balance all of them. For those who are privileged or using the golf course, of course they have their concerns. But I worry how many of them are using the golf course and how frequently they are using it, compared to the basic need for housing,” she told RTHK. The government said last week that it still plans to build flats on part of the golf course, despite moving to change the zoning of the land from "residential" to "undetermined". It added, however, that the original goal of 12,000 units might not be met. The Town Planning Board is due to hold a further four meetings on the issue this month.