Civil Engineering and Development Department to lodge appeal against judicial review judgment regarding development at former Fanling Golf Course
A spokesman for the Development Bureau (DEVB) said today (December 30) that the Court of First Instance (CFI) had earlier quashed the decision of the Director of Environmental Protection to approve the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report for the development at the former Fanling Golf Course. The Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD), as an Interested Party in this judicial review, has lodged an appeal against the judgment to the Court of Appeal.
The spokesman said, "CEDD cannot agree to some parts of the judgment and has therefore decided on the necessity to lodge an appeal. The grounds for the appeal have been set out in detail in the Notice of Appeal. Among other things, while the court's established practice is for the acceptability of an EIA report to be judged by its compliance with the requirements of the Technical Memorandum (TM) and Study Brief (SB), CFI seems to have imposed additional requirements outside the legislation regarding the way an EIA should be conducted and the assessment methodologies adopted. While the TM and SB did not explicitly require an assessment of the potential Old and Valuable Trees, CFI considered that such an assessment should be carried out during the EIA stage; while the court agreed on one hand that the former Fanling Golf Course was not a site of cultural heritage as specified in the TM, on the other hand, it held that the golf course had significant cultural heritage value which could only be fully preserved if it would continue to be used as a golf course and not be used for housing development; besides, CFI held that the EIA of the former Fanling Golf Course development did not take into account the EIA of the Northern Metropolis, but the obvious fact is that the Northern Metropolis belongs to a broad policy initiative covering many aspects and projects at different development stages. The development of the entire Northern Metropolis would span over 20 years or more. Individual projects (such as land development and transportation projects), according to their scale and nature, can only have their EIA conducted at an appropriate time, subject to the progress of their studies and substantial developments as well as actual circumstances.
The spokesman pointed out that the issues above involve the legal and reasonable interpretations of the EIA Ordinance. They do not only concern the EIA report of the proposed housing project at the former Fanling Golf Course, but also widely affect the EIA of other development projects with far‑reaching implications. The Government sees the need to lodge an appeal in view of the public interest at large.
Regarding the way forward of the proposed public housing development, the spokesman of DEVB pointed out that the CFI judgment will have substantial impact on the housing yield and the completion date. The progress of review by the Court of Appeal in due course may further affect the proposed housing project. DEVB and CEDD will conduct comprehensive study and assessment based on the latest circumstances, including the housing yield and timetable of the proposed project, the progress of the appeal process, etc. As such, the CEDD would need extra time to conduct the review on the scale of the housing development that was originally scheduled for completion this year.
The spokesman said, "The public housing flat production that can be provided by the land we have secured so far has already exceeded the public housing supply target under the Long Term Housing Strategy for the next 10 years. The Government stressed that this appeal is not solely for the proposed housing project but, more importantly, for seeking clarifications from the Court of Appeal on important subjects concerning the principles and legal issues of the EIA framework. The government policy is to strike a balance between environmental protection and development for the overall benefit of Hong Kong."
DH urges people to get vaccinated as flu season approaches
The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) today (January 2) said that the local seasonal influenza activity has continued to rise over the past week. As the weather gets colder, the seasonal influenza activity is expected to increase further and may exceed the threshold levels in the next one to two weeks, indicating that Hong Kong is about to enter the influenza season. To protect their health and that of their family members, all persons aged 6 months and above (except those with known contraindications) who have not yet received the seasonal influenza vaccination (SIV) should act immediately. High-risk groups should also get vaccinated against COVID-19 concurrently to minimise the risk of serious complications and death after infection.
"The latest surveillance data (as of the week ending December 28, 2024) showed that the positive percentage of influenza detections among respiratory specimens in the past two weeks increased from 1.35 per cent to 3.5 per cent, while the admission rate of patients diagnosed with influenza in public hospitals increased from 0.08 to 0.23 cases per 10 000 population, representing a significant increase in both indicators," a spokesman for the CHP said.
Based on the statistical methodology recommended by the World Health Organization, the CHP sets threshold levels for the above two important influenza indicators to determine whether Hong Kong enters an influenza season. The threshold levels were 4.94 per cent and 0.27 cases per 10 000 population respectively. Both figures exceeding the threshold levels indicate that Hong Kong has entered the influenza season.
"Based on the latest surveillance data, past epidemiological analysis and other factors such as weather, the CHP anticipated that Hong Kong may enter the influenza season in the next one to two weeks. All sectors of the community should heighten their vigilance and step up personal protection measures. Influenza vaccination has been scientifically proven to be one of the most effective ways to prevent seasonal influenza and its complications, while significantly reducing the risk of hospitalisation and death from seasonal influenza. Therefore, members of the public, particularly children, the elderly and chronic disease patients, should receive SIV as soon as possible. Strict personal, hand and environmental hygiene should also be observed at all times. People with respiratory symptoms, even if mild, should wear surgical masks and seek medical advice promptly, and should not go to work or school to minimise the risk of disease transmission," the spokesperson said.
As there has been a significant increase in influenza activities in Europe, North America and some parts of Asia (including the Mainland, Japan and Korea), the CHP also reminds those who plan to travel during the Lunar New Year holidays to get vaccinated against influenza as early as possible, pay attention to the influenza situation at their destinations and take appropriate personal protective measures before travelling.
"According to further analysis of the relationship between SIV and 31 cases of severe paediatric influenza-associated complications and deaths recorded during the influenza season from January to July in 2024, the CHP found that the rate of children aged between 6 months and 17 years, who had not received the SIV of that season and subsequently contracted influenza with severe complications or deaths, was about 3.2 times that of the vaccinated children. The protective effect is more pronounced in younger children; for example, in the 2- to 5-year-old age group, the relevant rate among unvaccinated children was about 6.4 times that of vaccinated children. Based on this, SIV is one of the most effective means to prevent seasonal influenza and its complications," the spokesperson said.
The Government has long been encouraging the public to receive vaccinations early, and providing free and subsidised SIV to eligible children, the elderly and other target groups through various Government vaccination programmes. The response has been encouraging. As of December 29, 2024, a total of about 1 806 000 doses of seasonal influenza vaccines have been administered under various SIV programmes, an increase of about 5.3 per cent over the same period in 2023. Among them, the number of schools participating in the SIV School Outreach Programme has significantly increased. So far, about 960 kindergartens and child care centres (91 per cent), 630 primary schools (96 per cent) and 470 secondary schools (94 per cent) have participated in SIV school outreach activities, which is higher than last year's rate (about 80 per cent for kindergartens and child care centres, 95 per cent for primary schools and 70 per cent for secondary schools participated last year). The increase in secondary schools is particularly obvious.
As of December 29, 2024, the SIV coverage rate for children aged 6 months to under 2 years was at a low level of about 16.9 per cent, which was slightly higher than that of the same period last year but still lower than that of other age groups of children. To enhance vaccination services for children aged 6 months to under 2 years and to boost the vaccination rate, the Government has opened the DH's Maternal & Child Health Centres (MCHCs) to all children aged 6 months to under 2 years to facilitate children's access to vaccinations as far as possible. Parents may book an appointment for their children to receive vaccinations at designated MCHCs via the online booking system.
In addition, as patients contracting both influenza and COVID-19 are more likely to develop serious complications and die, the CHP strongly urges those who have not received the initial dose of COVID-19 vaccine, especially young children over 6 months and elderly people, to receive an initial dose as soon as possible. Those high-risk groups should, in a timely manner, receive an additional booster dose six months after the last dose or COVID-19 infection (whichever is later), regardless of the number of doses received previously. All eligible persons can make appointments through the Government'sonline booking platformto receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
The CHP will continue to closely monitor the situation of seasonal influenza both locally and overseas. For the latest information, members of the public can visit the CHP'sseasonal influenzaandCOVID-19 & Flu Expresswebpages. Details of the COVID-19 Vaccination Programme can also be found on the CHP'sthematic website.
