Authorities plan to designate 37 priority sites for agriculture that are mainly located in northern Hong Kong, although critics have accused the government of eradicating good-quality farmland that falls under new development areas.
The Environment and Ecology Bureau revealed in a legislative paper on Wednesday that it had identified 37 agricultural priority areas involving around 980 hectares of land after the idea was first raised eight years ago.
Of these, 760 hectares are earmarked for farming uses while the rest are existing access roads and ancillary agricultural facilities.
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“The government will not propose or undertake non-agricultural development on government land in agricultural priority areas as a usual practice,” a spokesman said.
The proposed priority areas are mainly in North district, Yuen Long and Tai Po.
The spokesman added that the government would normally not object to any planning applications for non-agricultural use of farmland outside the priority areas.
However, Roy Ng Hei-man, a campaign manager for environmental group the Conservancy Association, said the areas included farmland with ongoing agricultural activities but excluded land designated for new development areas.
“The designated sites do not includes a lot of land falling in the new development areas such as the Northern Metropolis,” he said, referring to a government scheme to turn 30,000 hectares of land in the New Territories into an economic powerhouse and housing hub.
He said the idea for agricultural areas was raised before the Northern Metropolis plan and expressed doubts the authorities would prioritise protecting good-quality farmland over development.
He pointed to some farmland in Ta Kwu Ling which was in good condition but had not been included in the designated areas.
Chan Kim-ching, founder of the Liber Research Community, a local NGO focused on land and development issues, also questioned the government’s exclusion of some high-quality farmland from the designated areas.
“Some high-quality farmland located in Sheung Shui is not included, which reflects the suggestion by the government that it is not comprehensive,” he said.
He criticised the government for not providing a detailed explanation of the criteria used to designate these areas.
The bureau said it would brief relevant stakeholders about the plan starting early next year.
About 4,000 hectares of land in Hong Kong had been used or was being used for farming while about 730 hectares were active farmland, the bureau said.
Then leader Leung Chun-ying first floated the idea of designated agricultural priority areas in his 2016 policy address, with the aim of developing farming, optimising land use and providing the public with an alternative source of quality local fresh produce.
In 2018, the government launched a consultancy study on agricultural priority areas that was initially expected to be completed in 2022.
The Audit Commission later said the study had been delayed for about two years and would be finished in 2024.
Two NGOs – Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden and the Liber Research Community – in August called on authorities to protect about 340 hectares of good-quality farmland in an area that falls under the Northern Metropolis project to help foster urban-rural symbiosis and boost the local food supply.
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