Thirty-five trees near Kowloon Park are under threat, writes June Ng.

What would Tsim Sha Tsui be without Kowloon Park? The only major green spot in the area, it’s long been a favorite destination for locals in search of a quick break under the trees. But things may be about to change. Follow the trail leading down from the park to Canton Road, and you’ll come across 35 trees slated to be chopped down to make way for the extension of a nearby school.

This may sound like a gross invasion of our severely limited public space. Yet technically, the 800-square-meter patch of land in question doesn’t belong to the park at all. And this creates a somewhat bizarre scene—when you walk down the trail at the park, the trees on your left are part of Kowloon Park and are managed and maintained by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, while the ones on your right, which are the 35 trees in danger in this case and are of the same age and species as the ones on the left, are maintained by the Lands Department. A Lands Department spokesperson refused to answer HK Magazine’s queries on the land in question and maintenance of its trees.

Jim Chi-yung, chair professor of geography at the University of Hong Kong, is known for his in-depth knowledge of local trees and their history. He feels it’s fundamentally wrong that the government excluded the section when converting the Whitfield Barracks into the park in the first place. “That piece of land used to be in the barracks as well, so there’s no reason for not including it,” he says. “I’m sure the trees have decades of history, and people already take them to be part of the park.”

Passersby we spoke to confirm as much. One said the school extension project will definitely shrink the park they’ve come to know: “The trail makes for a lovely exit with its bushes and trees on both sides. Before reaching Canton Road, I still feel that I’m in the park. I can’t imagine what it would be like if the project goes ahead and the trees are gone.”

The $80.7 million project was approved by the Public Works Subcommittee of the Finance Committee in May, despite objections from local residents arising as early as November last year. Wilson Lee, the property manager of a nearby estate, says they put out two surveys of residents’ opinions, one of which reported a 75 percent disapproval rate among respondents, with the other reporting a staggering 90 percent disapproval rate. The results were submitted to the District Council, but Lee says that they are not being taken seriously, and he doubts that the district councilors and legislators have properly considered the issue at all. “We’re not arguing against the need to expand the school,” he says. “What we’re asking is whether there’s a better option than cutting down 35 trees, considering that we already have a worsening heat island effect.” He adds that the building proposed for the area will also block the breezeway (a passageway that provides an outlet for a breeze). District Councilor Derek Hung, who presented the residents’ concern to the council, says he asked the government to reconsider the plan but never received a response.
Wong Man-kit, the chairman of the owners’ committee of the estate, adds that the plan makes little sense for the school either, as the proposed building will be set apart, requiring students to walk a ways to get there. As a longtime resident, he’s disappointed that the government hasn’t put the matter up for public consultation, and worries that this will set a precedent for more green areas in the city to be gradually eaten away.

So is there an alternative that doesn’t involve hacking down 35 trees? Lai Chak Middle School certainly needs to be extended; its existing 2,000 square meters make it half the size of a normal secondary school. A school representative says they’ve requested a site for a new campus for almost 10 years to no avail, and the current extension proposal appears to be the only option left. Roy Tam, chairman of environmental group Green Sense, has suggested that the government give land to the school in West Kowloon, but the Education Bureau responded that there was no appropriate site for the school in the district, and the current proposed solution is the best.

Admittedly, the land in question is miniscule compared to the rest of Kowloon Park. Nonetheless, the issue does reveal an inadequacy when it comes to protecting trees that is all too typical in Hong Kong. When assessing whether the trees are “important” enough to preserve, the government has five criteria—aged at least 100 years; having cultural, historical or memorable significance; being rare; having outstanding forms; or being above certain proportions. Only 509 trees currently fit such criteria.

Now that Legco has given the green light to the funding of the project, the tree chopping will start once the government has picked a contractor for the job. Wong, the chairman of the owners’ committee, doesn’t rule out the possibility of seeking a judicial review. Meanwhile, the Education Bureau says they’re actively considering whether it’s possible to move the trees somewhere else and then transplant them back to the original site when the extension building is completed. But Professor Jim is skeptical about the suggestion, saying it’s almost impossible to move a tree twice. “Moving a tree once damages more than 80 percent of its roots already. The tree isn’t likely to survive if moved again during the recovery time, which is very long. On top of that, the tree transplant technique currently in use is crude and unsophisticated. People who really love trees would never agree with what they have suggested.”