Stars or Lights?
Meeting 28 June 2007
This latest meeting between residents of the Country Park and the Highways Dept. (HyD), also attended by representatives of the two District Offices, ended in the utter frustration of all parties.
HyD presented a scaled down version of their last proposal. They have decided to:
- downgrade all lights from the barrier throughout the Country Park (not just those in question) from 150 to 100 kWh
- change to "full cut off" lanterns (which focus the light directly onto the road rather than allowing spillage outside of the area to be illuminated)
- lower the lantern mounting height to 8 metres (from the current 10 metres)
- reduce all lighting levels (including Tai Mong Tsai Rd from the barrier to Pak Tam Road and Hoi Ha Road) by 50% after 10pm
Residents questioned the veracity of the department's statements regarding the reasons behind the lights between villages. It was clearly stated by the District Office representatives that the VRs only requested lights at the village intersections and between Pak Tam Au and Uk Tau Village - not between Lady Maclehose Village and Pak Tam Au. As Sarah Liao reported to LegCo - it was a decision of the HyD to put lights on that lower part of the road.
Once this was clarified, HyD stated that the many bends in the road and the fact that there was a regular bus service until 9pm were the two reasons behind this decision.
Extensive statistics and research (showing multiple expert opinions that lights will not increase safety on rural roads) and practical knowledge (experience driving those bends every night) - all that had been presented at previous meetings - were repeated by residents but to no avail.
The final word from HyD was that the stated works will begin after they have received an excavation permit in one month's time. Any appeal to reverse this decision must be made to the Director of Highways, the new of Secretaries for Transportation & Housing and Environment. These can be found on our continuously updated "Contacts and Connections" page.
A petition is also available to sign before 1 August 2007.
Earlier stories on this issue: