Discovery Bay - History

History

DB was originally conceived in 1976 as a comprehensive leisure resort by Mr Eddy Wong, the previous owner of Hong Kong Resort Company Limited (HKR) in agreement with the Hong Kong government. Mr Wong planned to develop DB into a tourist attraction with hotels, condominiums and three golf courses. However, he got into great financial difficulty and DB nearly ended in the hands of Moscow Narodny Bank Limited, his creditor. Both the Chinese and British governments were concerned that the property rights of the single largest piece of privately controlled land in Hong Kong might fall into the hands of the Russian bank at a time of political uncertainty.

The Cha family, up to then better known as an international textile group, saw an opportunity and purchased HKR. By 1979, all debts were paid off and work started on the reservoir and the core infrastructure but for a very different sort of project – essentially a residential community offering a relaxed lifestyle. Years later, after the handover, this decision was revisited in 2004 when it was discovered that colonial government officials did not seek proper approval from the Executive Committee (ExCo) to approve the deviation from the Land Grant. In a 2004 report by the government's Audit Commission, the Lands Department got severely criticized for allowing it to happen, especially since no land-premium was assessed or paid.

Unlike other large Hong Kong developments, everything in DB was built with private money, including roads, electricity and the water supply. Even the government-operated fire and police stations and the government-aided local primary school were built by the developer. In such developments, the government acts in the role as an approving and checking authority, with development proceeding under an official Master Plan, version 6.0a of which was released in 2003, including the major extension in 2003 in Yi Pak Wan.