Why Government Hill needs to be conserved
Rather than conserve the hill for public use, however, the government wants to sell half of it to developers, who would turn the area into a new shopping mall and 32-story office tower.
“This hill belongs to the public and it should stay public,” says heritage activist Katty Law, who is part of a coalition of groups that oppose the plan.
Over the past few months, a litany of groups have come out against the government’s plan, including the pan-democratic political parties, designers, environmental activists, architects, historians and congregants from St. John’s Cathedral.
Even feng shui masters think selling the land is a bad idea.
One master, who is also a registered architect, told the South China Morning Post that the new office tower would block the site’s chi, which comes from the balance between Government House, at the top of the hill, and the three 1950s-era office blocks immediately below.
The government’s rationale for the redevelopment plan is straightforward: there’s a shortage of Grade A office space in Central and a new office tower on the grounds would provide 28,500 square meters of new space.
The project is essential “to maintain Hong Kong’s competitiveness,” said a spokeswoman for the Development Bureau.
Opponents aren’t buying it -- and they’re offering free walking tours of Government Hill to show the public exactly what will be lost.
Green oasis
When the British landed in 1841, they chose the location to be known as Battery Path to build their first offices and a gun battery, according to activist Katty Law. Many of the institutions of colonial power were soon built near the site: the governor’s home, legislative council and St. John’s Cathedral.
In the 1950s, the battery was demolished for new government offices, which consisted of three Modernist office blocks arranged around a central courtyard. Today, Battery Path is a leafy oasis in a denuded office district.
Law worries that, if the redevelopment goes ahead, many of the trees along the path will be chopped down.
“The government has pledged only to protect 11 valuable trees," she says, holding up a pamphlet with a rendering of a proposed office tower.
“All of this will be removed during construction,” she says. “It could end up like Heritage 1881, with hundreds of old trees chopped down and the hill hollowed out.”
The government insists that its redevelopment plan will leave the hill greener than it is today, despite the fact that roads surrounding the hill will be widened.
“It is our policy to ensure that no trees are unnecessarily felled or pruned,” said the Development Bureau spokeswoman. Before anything is dug up, a “detailed tree survey report” will be completed, which will be used to document all of the existing greenery.
If a tree needs to be cut down, it will be replaced. Whatever company develops the site will be required to preserve all existing trees after the project is complete, according to the spokeswoman.
