The final report regarding the public consultation held by the government on the classification and revitalization of the Lai Chi Vun shipyards acknowledges that an overwhelming majority of opinions expressed agree with the beautification of the area of the shipyards. Most also agree that the site should be listed a heritage site.
Around 80 percent of the opinions valued the importance of the structural and historical value of the site and the need to preserve it in its original form and characteristics.
Even more overwhelming were the results regarding the need to revitalize the area, with over 95 percent of the opinions in favor.
The report also notes that there is a significant gap of between 3 and 15 percent of incomplete or inconclusive answers, and thus places the opinions against as merely residual.
In this report, the opinions collected by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) clash with the Cultural Heritage Committee June 5 vote, when 82 percent of its members voted against listing the area as heritage. The committee members were reportedly concerned the possibility of extreme limitations that will stop or prevent any kind of development being implemented at the area.
Following the report and the Cultural Heritage Committee advice, the government needs to make a final decision by the end of this year on what should be done with the Lai Chi Vun area and to what extent, since the procedure was originally initiated in December last year and expires after one year.
According to the IC, a total of 308 consultation forms were received by the bureau during the public consultation, from which 209 were collected through street enquiries. There were still 59 forms submitted via the internet and another 12 were delivered by hand.
A total of 18 of these opinion forms were delivered after the public consultation sessions.
Less commonly used were the methods of mail and fax that gathered only seven and three forms, respectively. Seven was also the number of opinions collected via paper mail, which the IC said it also considered as valid opinions.
The IC also noted that in the three sessions of public consultations, over 200 people were present and there were a total of 163 opinions collected from the public. RM
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