Withdrawal of Development of Block 1, 2 and 3
There was originally planned to be twelve blocks built on the site, but during the 1980s, there was a growing concern about the environmental safety of the Tsing Yi Island. The proximity of Mobil oil depot to the Mayfair Gardens triggered the protest of the islanders. The residents demanded for a relocation of the depot to a more distant area. In the event the depot remained unmoved, but the planned development of Blocks 1, 2 and 3, together with a bus terminus and a cinema, were forced to be withdrawn.
Although the results of the protests were not what the campaigners desired at the time, this was one of the main examples of a civil protest movement in Hong Kong in the mid-1980s. Actions against the government were organised by residents and social workers. The movement encouraged greater participation in newly devised District Broad and resulted in more public involvement in policy formulation.
The area originally intended for Blocks 1-3 is now a basketball court, a tennis court and a playground so the estate is open to the Victoria Harbour despite the existence of the newly-built Container Terminal 9 and Rambler Crest which block some of the sea view. The oil depot has since been relocated to the west shore of the island, separated from the residential population by the geographic barrier of the Tsing Yi Peak.
Read more about this topic: Mayfair Gardens
Famous quotes containing the words withdrawal of, withdrawal, development and/or block:
“A separation situation is different for adults than it is for children. When we were very young children, a physical separation was interpreted as a violation of our inalienable rights....As we grew older, the withdrawal of love, whether that meant being misunderstood, mislabeled or slighted, became the separation situation we responded to.”
—Roger Gould (20th century)
“A bizarre sensation pervades a relationship of pretense. No truth seems true. A simple morning’s greeting and response appear loaded with innuendo and fraught with implications.... Each nicety becomes more sterile and each withdrawal more permanent.”
—Maya Angelou (b. 1928)
“I do seriously believe that if we can measure among the States the benefits resulting from the preservation of the Union, the rebellious States have the larger share. It destroyed an institution that was their destruction. It opened the way for a commercial life that, if they will only embrace it and face the light, means to them a development that shall rival the best attainments of the greatest of our States.”
—Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901)
“The chess pieces are the block alphabet which shapes thoughts; and these thoughts, although making a visual design on the chess-board, express their beauty abstractly, like a poem.... I have come to the personal conclusion that while all artists are not chess players, all chess players are artists.”
—Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968)