Tourists and business owners slam Tsim Sha Tsui habourfront redevelopment plans

A controversial development proposal that would see Tsim Sha Tsui’s promenade and waterfront closed for three years has received support from the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) but jibes from pretty much everyone else.

The expansion plans include an elongated Avenue of Stars (as if it isn’t dull enough already), as well as the construction of three buildings – a film industry exhibition centre, a performance venue and a block of restaurants, reports the SCMP.

Despite the LCSD’s support, hundreds of complaints have been received from business owners and members of the public who are concerned about the long-term lack of access to the waterfront.

In other words, say goodbye to tourists with selfie sticks and health-obsessed joggers, and say hello to a bunch of worried restaurant owners.
 

That classic selfiestick tourist on Avenue of Stars 

All tourists we talked to unanimously agreed that three years is three years too long.

“I don’t think the three years is worth it because other tourists may not experience it [the Avenue of Stars]. Honestly, I think one year is long enough“, Kris Orbeta from the Philippines shared with us.

If others, like tourist Joan Llavo from Barcelona, determine that “It [the Avenue of Stars and the Promenade] is one of the best in Hong Kong… one of my favourites for sure”, then sightseers arriving over the next three years are in for a horrible time.  

However, the plans do state that a limited number of areas will reopen in the second year. And there’s always The Peak, people.

Although many oppose the three-year timeframe, tourists, business owners and the Yau Tsim Mong District Council alike still agree that the area is due for a makeover.
 

New World’s posters around TST

Since the TST waterfront is “getting old” (built in 2004), the LCSD stated the development, “will beautify existing recreational facilities and add new ones, bring in more cultural elements, in particular those relating to movies, to present Hong Kong’s achievements in the film industry”.

Maybe the development will provide better Hong Kong movie education to tourists like Hans Hubert from the Netherlands, who confessed, “We don’t know 99 percent of the people [on the Avenue of Stars]. For Asian people it is a bigger attraction because this is like their Hollywood. For us, the view is most important.”
 

Although Austrian born Herbert Hofer, general manager of German restaurant Brotzeit, is “fully in favour of improving [the waterfront]”, he stressed that the plans are simply a bandaid.

“It could be the best waterfront in the world with an unbelievable skyline but the developers are blocking the view and avoiding real problems like the tourist bus traffic jam,” he said, adding that the resulting aesthetics of the development concern him more than having a business in the midst of a construction site.
 

Construction-filled waterfront view 
 

Meanwhile, the LCSD affirmed that the proposal is being conducted in “an open and fair manner with public interests as the principle”.

The plans will be subject to the Town Planning Board’s approval tomorrow.

Photos: Jessica Steinberg/Coconuts Media 



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