Periscope
Related Stories
Penny's Bay
HK's first extensive Greenland
By Rachel Yip
There is another large greening project launched by the CEDD: greening Penny's Bay. It is regarded as an opportunity for them to apply their ideas of greening to a larger extent. “It is an area where nothing is built. We can plan freely without too many obstacles that occur when greening those well-established areas,” said Kathy Ng, a senior landscape architect.
This greening area of 280 hectares is located between the North Lantau Expressway station and the entrance to Disneyland . The idea of the design is to match the environment of Disneyland . “Through winding pathways with trees and plants alongside, we hope to create a peaceful atmosphere which leads the tourists to enter the theme park,” Miss Ng said.
Some vegetation is planted for the sake of beautifying the scenery. “We choose to create a berm and to plant large trees along the road as a buffer to hide the vents nearby, because it disturbs the visual quality of the environment.”
The project has been underway for five years with a fund of nearly $200 million. It will be finished when Disneyland is open in September 2005.
The most interesting feature there is the botanical garden. This is a region where exotic plant species are planted to match different themes. Miss Ng explained, “This has an educational purpose. We will provide information on those exotic flowers and plant species for the visitors in order to let them know more about those plants.”
The soil and plants used there had been carefully prepared long before the construction started. As the area is reclaimed, soil is not suitable for planting. So the department had to mix soils from different places to produce a type of highly fertile soil. As for the plants, they are prepared in the nursery in Dongguan and then transplanted there.
“The plants we use must match the landform to achieve the desired atmosphere. There, we have used 70% of native species, and 30% of exotic species,” Miss Ng said.
Besides, a large area of grassland will be open for visitors where they can enjoy the beauty of nature. The coastline will also be kept so that the area looks more natural.
Inside the garden, there will be a man-made lake. Channels are built to collect natural water and transfer it into the lake. “Water collected can be used for irrigation. There will be a water recreation center where visitors can rent boats for enjoyment,” she said.
“I hope that Penny's Bay will become a place where people can enjoy the natural side of Hong Kong in the future,” Miss Ng said.
