围绕政府计划在香港最古老的高尔夫球场建造12，000套公共公寓的激烈法庭之争已进入最后一轮。政府决定不对一项裁定提出上诉，该裁定认定其批准该项目的环境影响评估（EIA）报告非法。
The hotly contested court battle over government plans to build 12,000 public flats on Hong Kong’s oldest golf course has played its final round. The government decided not to appeal against a ruling that held its approval of an environmental impact assessment (EIA) report on the project to be unlawful.
这比进一步试图说服法院维持一个存在致命缺陷的程序要好。现在，根据上诉法院对香港高尔夫球会有利的判决，可以对这些计划进行更广泛的审查。
This is better than pursuing a further attempt to persuade the courts to uphold a fatally flawed process. Now, a broader review of the plans can be undertaken in light of the Court of Appeal’s judgment in favour of the Hong Kong Golf Club.
从这件事中可以吸取很多教训。初审法院于2024年认定，环境影响评估报告的编制和批准过程中存在错误和违法行为。几乎所有这些调查结果都得到了上诉法院的认可。
There are many lessons to be learned from the affair. The Court of First Instance found in 2024 that the process by which the EIA report was prepared and approved was littered with errors and breaches of the law. Almost all of those findings were endorsed by the Court of Appeal.
此案的根源在于上届政府拼命寻找土地来建设公共地产，以缓解该市的住房危机。该公司于2019年宣布将开发32公顷的高尔夫球场。
The case has its roots in the previous administration’s bid to ease the city’s housing crisis with a desperate search for land on which to build public estates. It announced in 2019 that 32 hectares of the golf course would be developed.
这在当时是一个流行的举动。该问题将社区对经济适用房的需求与拥有特权会员的独家高尔夫俱乐部对立起来。
This was a popular move at the time. The issue pitched the community’s need for affordable housing against the exclusive golf club with its privileged members.
然而，在所有建造住宅区的地方中，这是一个不太可能的地方。正如法院所说，粉岭高尔夫球场被认为是亚洲“最好、风景最优美”的球场之一。它是香港唯一能够举办精英国际锦标赛的场地。
However, of all the places to build a housing estate, this was an unlikely one. The Fanling golf course, as the court said, is regarded as one of the “finest and most scenic” in Asia. It is the only venue in Hong Kong capable of staging elite international tournaments.
指定用于开发的区域涵盖了旧球场的八个洞，其历史可以追溯到1911年。它是中国最古老的高尔夫球，也是20世纪初高尔夫“黄金时代”的宝贵遗迹。这一发展将导致它的毁灭。
The area earmarked for development covers eight holes of the Old Course, which dates back to 1911. It is the oldest in China and a valuable remnant of the “golden age” of golf in the early 20th century. The development would have led to its destruction.
该遗址的文化意义和遗产价值本来应该是显而易见的，但住房计划对这颗“建筑瑰宝”的影响却没有得到适当的评估。遗憾的是，未能充分评估该开发对该地区生态（包括濒危物种）产生负面影响的潜力。
The cultural significance and heritage value of the site should have been obvious, but the impact of the housing plan on this “architectural gem” was not properly evaluated. There was also a lamentable failure to adequately assess the potential for the development to negatively affect the site’s ecology, which includes endangered species.
法院认为公众咨询程序不充分。有关评估重要领域的更多信息仅在磋商后提供。政府也未能公平考虑俱乐部就后期补充内容提交的详细意见。
The court found the public consultation process to be inadequate. Additional information on important areas of the assessment was provided only after the consultation. There was also a failure by the government to fairly consider detailed submissions made by the club on the late additions.
法院称，批准环境影响评估报告的附加条件实际上要求重新设计和重新考虑该计划，这可能会使其与公众咨询的计划“完全不同”。
Conditions attached to the approval of the EIA report effectively required the plan to be redesigned and rethought, which could have made it “quite a different creature” to the one the public was consulted on, according to the court.
判决中最引人注目的部分之一涉及EIA报告不符合法律要求的技术备忘录和研究简报的领域。这暴露了令人震惊的是，未能充分考虑该项目对动植物群（特别是树木、飞蛾和蝙蝠）可能产生的影响。
One of the most striking parts of the judgment dealt with areas in which the EIA report did not comply, as required by law, with the technical memorandum and study brief. This revealed alarming failures to sufficiently consider the possible impact of the project on flora and fauna, notably trees, moths and bats.
极度濒危的中国沼泽丝柏的命运就是一个明显的例子。法院表示，该遗址上的此类树木占全球人口的15%，其中29棵估计树龄超过100岁。环境影响评估过程未能正确评估开发对树木的潜在“毁灭性和不可逆转”影响，而树木对环境变化高度敏感。
The fate of the critically endangered Chinese Swamp Cypress tree is a glaring example. The court said such trees on the site make up 15 per cent of the global population and 29 of them are estimated to be more than 100 years old. The EIA process failed to properly assess the potential “devastating and irreversible” impact of the development on the trees, which are highly sensitive to changes in their environment.
该判决强调，需要仔细、全面和公平地考虑即使是相对较小的开发项目对环境的影响。该法律于2023年进行了修订，仅要求超过50公顷的区域提交EIA报告，而不是之前的20公顷。
The judgment highlights the need for careful, comprehensive and fair consideration of the effect of even relatively small developments on the environment. The law was amended in 2023 so that EIA reports are only required for areas exceeding 50 hectares, rather than the previous 20.
香港在推行庞大的发展计划时，不应忽略在两者之间取得适当平衡和保护环境的需要。上周，政府强调解决住房问题是其首要议程。近年来已经取得了进展，对网站的搜索不像过去那样疯狂。
As Hong Kong seeks to push ahead with ambitious development plans, it must not overlook the need to strike the right balance and protect the environment. Last week, the government stressed that solving the housing problem is top of its agenda. Progress has been made in recent years, and the search for sites is not as frantic as in the past.
北部大都市的巨大发展预计将有15万套住房。高尔夫球场位于该项目的范围内，旨在在其核心提供一条“绿色走廊”。在旧球场上建造房屋毫无意义，尤其是在香港努力成为国际体育赛事的主要举办地之际。
The huge Northern Metropolis development is expected to feature 150,000 homes. The golf course is within the boundaries of that project and is intended to provide a “green corridor” at its heart. Building housing on the Old Course makes no sense, especially as Hong Kong strives to become a leading host of international sporting events.
住房计划又回到了第一阶段。最重要的一步是现在放弃它，并允许保留标志性的高尔夫球场。
The housing plan is back at the first tee. The master stroke would be to now abandon it and allow the iconic golf course to be preserved.