{"id":2053,"date":"2015-03-10T02:49:02","date_gmt":"2015-03-10T02:49:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web02.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters2\/archives\/2053"},"modified":"2015-05-24T07:13:07","modified_gmt":"2015-05-24T07:13:07","slug":"countryparks-should-not-be-turned-to-housing-sites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/archives\/2053","title":{"rendered":"Countryparks should not be turned to housing sites"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Good morning ladies and gentlemen,<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s motion is that country parks should be turned into sites for housing in Hong Kong. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>That is, to use the land of country park<\/span>s<\/span> for residential purposes; in other words, <\/span>to <\/span>remove country parks in order to build residential<\/span> areas<\/span>. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>We are against the motion as we absolutely believe that country parks are not the correct place for building flats.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Our opponents mentioned that we must act quickly to develop the wasted land <\/span>of the <\/span>country parks due to the intense population growth in Hong Kong. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>We are sorry to tell them they<\/span>\u2019ve<\/span> made a few mistakes regarding this issue. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Firstly, even if all country parks are developed into housing estates, the problem of land shortage for residential uses will not be solved as the population will still be growing. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Secondly, the land used to build country parks <\/span>is<\/span> not wasted<\/span> land.\u00a0 T<\/span>oday we will prove it to you and also point out the importance of<\/span> preserving <\/span>country parks<\/span> which <\/span>should not be removed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

First of all, 11 parks out of 24 in Hong Kong, <\/span>a <\/span>total <\/span>of <\/span>69 per cent of the total area f<\/span>or<\/span>m a network of catchments for collecting rainwater into the reservoirs. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>These parks are designed with an important purpose of protecting the catchments from contamination. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Redeveloping these parks for residential purpose is just reinventing the wheel, only with a square shape this time. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>There is absolutely no reason to ruin the reservoirs which supply about 11 to 27 per cent of Hong Kong\u2019s consumption. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Also in the long run, we must increase our water self-reliance.<\/span>\u00a0It is totally a bad idea for removing country parks for building houses.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For further elaboration of that, removing country parks itself is already a bad idea. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>According to the Lonely Planet, the Hong Kong Trail, which crosses five country parks on the island ha<\/span>ve<\/span> been confirmed as the top 10 city hikes in the world; in other words, it is a world-class treasure.<\/span>\u00a0It would be <\/span>silly<\/span> to remove a world-class treasure <\/span>of<\/span> an internationally well-known city for building some housing estates<\/span> for the benefits of a few money-minded property developers<\/span>. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Additionally, the parks are part of Hong<\/span>k<\/span>ongers\u2019 collective memory. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>They grew up in them, played in them, hiked in them and their next generation does the same. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>The parks are paradise to some people who enjoy the pressure-free environment, the fresh air, the beautiful scener<\/span>y<\/span> and so on<\/span>. T<\/span>hough one may argue that the population density o<\/span>f<\/span>the <\/span>parks are less than that in urban areas, but they do benefit people more than the <\/span>crowded and bustling <\/span>urban areas<\/span> do<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Our opponent just stated that only low-rise buildings will be built in the border line of the country parks and the natural environment will be not affected.<\/span>\u00a0However, if this is true, how can the low density and low-rise residential buildings solve the housing problem of Hong Kong, which has been emphasized by our dear opponents?\u00a0 <\/span>The promise <\/span>of<\/span> develop<\/span>ing<\/span> more residential<\/span> areas<\/span> is <\/span>to <\/span>s<\/span>atisfy<\/span> the <\/span>fierce<\/span> housing <\/span>demand<\/span> due to the population growth. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Developing low<\/span>–<\/span>rise housing <\/span>estates <\/span>cannot serve many people; and <\/span>their<\/span> price would be high, which means the <\/span>majority of <\/span>people who <\/span>are in dire <\/span>need <\/span>of a living place <\/span>cannot afford <\/span>them<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0 How can anyone say that ruining the country parks can solve the housing problem of the city? <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Our opponents also said that the country parks which are not involved in the catchment area for the reservoirs and world-class treasure can be used for development. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>But it is disappointing that the affirmative side cannot grasp the fundamental values embedded in the country-park concept. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>As the proverb says, \u201cGive them an inch and they\u2019ll take a mile.\u201d <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Once one piece of land is surrendered, there may well be no end to the attribution.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

If today\u2019s motion is to stand<\/span>,<\/span> our opponents must prove to all of us<\/span>that the need for housing<\/span> estates<\/span> is so severe that they need to be built on the parks and that our world-class treasure is not precious enough compar<\/span>ed<\/span> to other sites that could be developed or redeveloped for the so-called \u201ceven more important\u201d housing problem. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>So far our opponents have failed to prove this. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Therefore, today\u2019s motion must fall.<\/span> \u00a0<\/span>Thank you.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Good morning ladies and gentlemen<\/span><\/p>

<\/span><\/p>

Today\u2019s motion is that country parks should be turned into sites for housing in Hong Kong.<\/span><\/span>That is, to use the land of country par<\/span><\/span>for residential purposes; in other words<\/span>t<\/span>remove country parks in order to build residentia<\/span>area<\/span>.<\/span><\/span>We are against the motion as we a.........<\/span><\/p>Read More<\/a>","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":8474,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","language-en","classlevel-others","schoolyear-36"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2053"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2053\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2220,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2053\/revisions\/2220"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}