Dear Members and Friends,
As you may know, the long-awaited Mui Wo Face lift works are about to commence, so LIM Committee met with the CEDD/Contractor project team at their Site Office in Mui Wo last week.
We were given an overview of and outline timetable for all the construction works as follows:
- Months 1-3: Initial site set-up, surveys and obtaining Temporary Traffic Arrangement (TTA) approvals from Police, Transport Department etc.
- Months 4-6: Implementation of first phase TTA, Ground Investigation (GI) work, conversion of the Fire Services Pier to a new Public Pier and establishing the new Cargo Loading/Unloading Area.
- Months 7-12: Transplanting of 6 old trees from in front of the Ferry Pier (LHS) to the Southern Waterfront, piling works (using relatively quiet screw-type machinery) for the new Cooked Food Market (CFM) and transitioning of bus stops to the new location.
- Months 13-33: Construction and commissioning of new CFM, demolition of the old CFM and site formation for the new Public Bicycle and Car Parking building.
- Months 34-54: Construction of the new Bicycle and Car Parking facility, development and landscaping work on the waterfront promenades, extension of cycle track and refuse collection station.
The final plan can be viewed at the back of the CEDD Legco paper on this link:
This is a tight timetable and much depends on smooth implementation of the TTA to minimise disruption to daily life in Mui Wo. For example, it is intended to relocate the heavy goods vehicle parking area to the site of the old Cement Works (also new Cargo Loading bay), then use the vacated area for a temporary car park. A lot of space will be needed for temporary parking of bicycles and we await further detail on that. Cars will no longer be able to park in front of the Ferry Pier as they do now. However, if initial TTAs are not working they will be reviewed and modified as far as possible.
A couple of other important points to note: First, the current Cooked Food Market will continue to operate as usual for at least 30 months until the new CFM is ready to move into; second, we were pleased to learn that nearly all of the large trees in the Ferry Pier area will be preserved, except those to be transplanted from the left hand side of the pier entrance. That includes the famous fig tree outside McDonald’s. Last but not least, we understand that the total cost of project will be about HK$ 650 million, considerably lower than the HK$ 970 million estimate given in an earlier Legco paper.
We understand a Public Liaison Officer for the project will be coming on board soon and we are expecting to have further briefings in the coming months, including on the TTA issue. We have also requested that a large information display board be provided in a prominent location, so that visitors and residents can see the full picture of what is happening in Mui Wo throughout the project.
In the meantime if you have any questions or comments please let us know and we will pass those on to the project team.
Best wishes,
LIM Committee