On January 11, Living Islands Movement (LIM) hosted a webinar to facilitate members’ comments on the remaining phase of the Mui Wo Facelift Project being undertaken by the Sustainable Lantau Office of Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD). CEDD representatives presented the latest design proposals and answered questions from the community.
Proposed works include improvements to the south waterfront promenade; construction of a new cooked food market and covered cycle parking area; construction of a new car park topped by a landscape deck; construction of a new public transport interchange and refuse collection point; re-provisioning of the cargo loading area; and the improvement/ provision of neighbourhood cycle tracks and heritage trails.
“In the main, the webinar participants welcomed the facelift project,” says LIM Chairperson Merrin Pearse. “Though some participants felt that some of the design concepts were inappropriate for the rural/ seaside community of Mui Wo.”
Webinar participants requested a number of additions to the project’s final phase, including rain-and-sun shelters with solar panels on the roof, and outdoor seating at the Mui Wo Cooked Food Market. There were also requests for improvements to ensure that the proposed infrastructure changes would prioritise the needs of pedestrians and cyclists, as well as motorists.
A Cantonese-language version of the webinar, co-presented by LIM and Save Lantau Alliance, will be available by the end of the first quarter of 2021.
In the coming weeks, the CEDD plans to provide street booths at four Mui Wo locations to facilitate further public comment. The booths were originally scheduled to be in place from December 4 to 14, 2020, but plans were put on hold due to social distancing restrictions.
Once the final plan is agreed, and the budget approved, the remaining phase of the 10-year+ Mui Wo Facelift Project is expected to take four years to complete.
