If cycling is a part of low-carbon living style,
cycling track should not be the enemy of trees.

More than 3,000 trees will be felled in order to complete the remaining Tuen Mun-Sheung Shui cycling track (Yuen Long-Sheung Shui Section),. The felling includes trees with crown over 20 meters and age more than decades. The environmental cost is unreasonably huge.

After analyzing the route and the construction sites of the cycling track, we have found out that there are two major problems in the Tuen Mun-Sheung Shui cycling track project. Firstly, a large section of the cycling track is located along the Castle Peak Road and the New Territories Circular Road with a narrow width. This greatly increases the difficulty of the construction and thus the number of trees to be felled. Secondly, as the cycling track will be built next to the highways, cyclists will be immensely affected by the air and noise pollution from the heavy traffic. The quality of the cycling track will be worryingly low. Based on the observations we made on-site and the reports provided by the government, we have concluded that it is unsuitable to build this section.

However, the Legislative Council has already approved financial funding to the project. We therefore have immediately contacted the responsible governmental department to raise our request for tree protection. We arranged a meeting with the representative from the Civil Engineering and Development Department in September. After reviewing tree reports, we arranged an on-site investigation with the officials in October in hope of proposing modifications to the project. We have given a series of suggestions to avoid tree felling, including a change in route, partial reduction in the width of the cycling track (the current guideline is a minimum of 3.5 metres), and an adoption of gallery road.

The response from the government is positive and they are currently considering our suggestions. We will continue the follow-up on this project to reduce tree felling as much as possible.

]]> http://greensense.org.hk/en/2016/11/%e7%92%b0%e4%bf%9d%e8%a7%b8%e8%a6%ba%e7%b9%bc%e7%ba%8c%e8%b7%9f%e9%80%b2%e5%b1%af%e9%96%80%e8%87%b3%e4%b8%8a%e6%b0%b4%e6%ae%b5%e5%96%ae%e8%bb%8a%e5%be%91%e3%80%80%e5%96%ae%e8%bb%8a%e5%be%91%e8%88%87/feed/ 0 http://greensense.org.hk/en/2016/08/%e5%85%83%e6%9c%97%e8%87%b3%e4%b8%8a%e6%b0%b4%e6%ae%b5%e5%96%ae%e8%bb%8a%e5%be%91%e6%96%ac3284%e6%a3%b5%e6%a8%b9-%e7%92%b0%e4%bf%9d%e8%a7%b8%e8%a6%ba%e5%bb%ba%e8%ad%b0%e6%94%b9%e5%96%84%e5%96%ae/ http://greensense.org.hk/en/2016/08/%e5%85%83%e6%9c%97%e8%87%b3%e4%b8%8a%e6%b0%b4%e6%ae%b5%e5%96%ae%e8%bb%8a%e5%be%91%e6%96%ac3284%e6%a3%b5%e6%a8%b9-%e7%92%b0%e4%bf%9d%e8%a7%b8%e8%a6%ba%e5%bb%ba%e8%ad%b0%e6%94%b9%e5%96%84%e5%96%ae/#comments Mon, 22 Aug 2016 04:12:27 +0000 editor http://greensense.org.hk/?p=2345

3284 trees will be felled for the Yuen Long-Sheung Shui cycling track
The environmental cost is unreasonably high
Green Sense urges improvement on both the route and the design of the track in order to reduce tree cutting

Paul Chan, the Secretary for Development, posted an online blog yesterday (21^st). Referring to the accomplishments of the Hong Kong athlete Lee Wai Sze in the Olympics, he mentioned the recent policies done by the Government to encourage local athletic development, including the establishment of the cycling track network.

Green Sense agree that cycling is both a low-carbon transportation means and a public leisure activity. However, 3,284 trees will be felled in order to complete the remaining Yuen Long-Sheung Shui, part of the Tuen Mun-Sheung Shui cycling track. The felling includes banyans with crown over 20 meters. The environmental cost is unreasonably huge ^[1].

According to Roy Tam, the Chief Executive (Voluntary) of Green Sense, “It is contradicting for the Government to improve our quality of life by establishing cycling tracks while felling trees massively and destroy the natural environment.”

While the Government claims that they have already minimized tree removal, they are not acting thoroughly. We have once suggested it is possible to reduce tree felling by reasonably decreasing the width of the track, sharing path with pedestrians and improving routes design. However, the Government did not consider these suggestions seriously.

We once again urge the Government to reduce tree cutting for the Sheung Shui-Yuen Long cycling track. Establishing cycling track should not be turned into a tree massacre.

[1] – 20^th May 2016 meeting, Finance Committee of the Legislative Council, http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr15-16/chinese/fc/pwsc/papers/p15-53c.pdf