The prospect of a Grade-II heritage structure atop the Peak being turned into a hotel has reopened the perennial debate between builders and environmentalists. Sylvia Chang hears the argument on both sides.

The mansion at 27 Lugard Road may soon come to resemble quite something other than its familiar 100-year-old structure. The old two-storey, neo-colonial home - with floor to ceiling windows looking out on the Victoria Harbour and some of the most iconic landmarks on the Hong Kong skyline - might soon have to make way for a boutique hotel

The Grade-II heritage site was bought in 2012, for HK$384 million by the developer, Crown Empire, which submitted its latest development application to the Town Planning Borad on Nov 4.

"It's a sustainable way of conserving historic buildings. A heritage hotel may be an example for future neighborhood development," said Lee Ho-yin, associate professor in architecture at University of Hong Kong (HKU).

The plan brought building conservationists into collision with nature lovers. Victoria Peak, the former home of European magnates of industry, commerce and shipping, has become one of the city's most popular tourist and recreation areas.

There's a narrow hiking trail about 800 meters long, running around the Peak. It marks the beginning of the "Hong Kong Trail", ranked among the 10 best hiking tracks in the world, by Lonely Planet, the world's largest travel guide publisher. The trail runs right past 27 Lugard Road. In places the path is less than two-meters wide. It never gets wider than three meters. But it's a favorite track for hikers. Anyone who wants to drive a car there, along the narrow pathway, needs a special permit. Opponents say allowing regular automobile traffic would endanger hikers.

Renovate to protect

Lee, who specializes in urban conservation, draws attention to the way European cities have preserved many wonderful old structures by turning them into bed and breakfast lodgings, boutique hotels and so on.

"If it's successful, this would be the first private property in Hong Kong voluntarily revitalized for conservation," said Lee. He referred pointedly to the public uproar over the demolition of Ho Tung Garden a few years ago, at the behest of Sir Robert Ho Tung's granddaughter, despite the agonized efforts of the government to persuade her to change her mind. The "Chinese Renaissance" style residence was bulldozed last year, paving the way for the construction of 10 modern villas.

"The mansion at 27 Lugard Road may face the same fate if the opponents push too much," said Stephen Chan Chit-kwai, a Central & Western District councilor and member of the Antiquities Advisory Board.

Lugard Road, the only access to the house at No 27, was built through dense woods and sometimes dangerously close to precipitous cliffs on the Peak. It was widely lauded as "the greatest construction, representing the conquest of humanity over nature" back then. The road was named in honor of Frederick Lugard, the 14th governor of Hong Kong (1907-1912).

"That area is supposed to be a country park, for hiking and only for pedestrians. The delivery vehicles for the proposed hotel would definitely obstruct the trail and may be dangerous to people hiking," said Melanie Moore, a resident who has lived on the Peak for 17 years.

"The track is so narrow that it's not suitable for vehicles. The elderly in wheelchairs and babies in strollers could hardly pass at the same time as cars on the trail," said Joseph Chan Ho-lim, council member of the Central & Western District. He said more than 1,000 people use the trail for hiking every day.

Chan also claimed that putting a hotel there would create environmental pollution on the mountain. "A construction project, like a hotel, would definitely cause pollution and affect the neighbors: noise and dust. It would also damage the woods and grass," Joseph Chan said.

The nay-sayers

The Alliance for Beautiful Hong Kong (ABHK), a local environment group, has joined the opposition to the re-development. It claims to have collected over 120,000 signatures opposing the proposed hotel.

Facing public pressure, the property owner has conceded to reduce the number of rooms from 17 to 12, and set aside more conservations space including a public education center.

The application also promised to keep vehicular traffic to a minimum. Solutions to be explored include an electric e-tuk and multi-cycle.

ABHK, however, said electric cars won't make any difference. "Under the new restriction on vehicular access, there is still a significant net increase of 9,310 traffic flow annually, posing danger to pedestrians," the ABHK reported.

Vivian Leung, chairperson of the ABHK, said, "We hope that the mansion will be used only as a private residence".

"The idea of preserving the trail for pedestrians is good, but the opponents (of the hotel) could bring the opposite result," said Lee of HKU. "If the building were to be redeveloped as a hotel, the private housing price in that area would never become ridiculously high, restricting other residents from renovating their houses into villas. And villas bring more private vehicles-those are the major obstacles to the traffic."

Stephen Chan argued that preventing human and commercial elements from entering a community is a belief in a one-sided view of nature. "When there is no win-win strategy in an issue involved with different stakeholders, we should learn to compromise.

In this case, the owner could simply demolish the mansion or renovate it into three individual houses and then sell them to outsiders who would likely bring more problems to the community," said Stephen Chan, "After all, it's a private property. The government can't control how the owner chooses to re-use it."

Contact the writer at sylvia@chinadailyhk.com

The campaign against turning the property at 27 Lugard Road into a boutique hotel has caught on among hikers. Roy Liu / China Daily

Alliance for Beautiful Hong Kong has collected over 120,000 signatures opposing the idea of renovation.

(HK Edition 11/26/2014 page7)