E. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

E.1 Background

The raison d’etre for this Project is encapsulated in the concept of enhancing tourism and in the particular context of Lantau of “getting back to nature” and is in keeping with the theme of Sustainable Tourism as documented in the Environmentally Sustainable Development Strategy for Hong Kong’s Travel and Tourism Industry.

Tourists and residents alike will leave behind a bustling vibrant urban environment within the airport and its support community and will be conveyed to the tranquil and classical environs of the Ngong Ping area resplendent with the Giant Buddha and associated monasteries and facilities. The Tung Chung Cable Car Project has been considered for several years and many studies have been conducted, consultations held and data gathered to support the construction of the Project which comprises:

· construction of a cable car system of about 5.7km long between Tung Chung and Ngong Ping;

· construction of associated towers and other supporting structures;

· construction of two termini, one at Tung Chung and the other at Ngong Ping; and

· construction of angle station(s) and other associated infrastructure.

The Study Brief issued by the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) (ESB-068/2001) for the “Tung Chung to Ngong Ping Cable Car Project” hereafter called the “Project” contains a “preliminary preferred alignment” and highlights indicative locations for the Tung Chung and Ngong Ping Termini and an Airport Intermediate Terminal. The alignment is illustrated in Figure E.1. It should be noted that during the course of the current Study the Mass Transit Railway Corporation Limited (MTRC) confirmed that there is no proposal to use the Airport Angle Station for setting down or picking up passengers (as had previously been conceived). This means that the Angle Station at the Airport Island will only be used for turning, to house the mechanical drives, for maintenance and systems control. The fact that no passengers will embark/disembark at the Airport Angle Station significantly reduces the potential risks (associated with numbers of people in the proximity of the airport fuel tank farm) associated with the operation of the cable car system.

E.2 Procedures

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has been undertaken in accordance with the Study Brief and has drawn conclusions pertaining to the construction and operation of the project from the detailed assessments carried out in accordance with the Technical Memorandum to the EIA Ordinance.

As part of the ongoing development of the Project, there have been many discussions with the designers and operators of similar systems elsewhere in the Region and much advice has been provided in terms of practical solutions to working within environmental constraints of the Water Gathering Ground and the Country Park (and its future extensions) as well as the engineering constraints relating to terrain and access. Specific issues discussed have included methods of working within the Country Park through the use of helicopters or a material ropeway, the use of prefabricated materials as far as practical (with assembly on site especially for the towers within the Country Park), the measures needed to protect the ecological, landscape and visual resources (during and following construction) principles of reinstatement of conditions (as soon as possible after construction) and the protection of the Water Gathering Grounds.

E.3 Consultation

Consultations have also been held with key Green Groups (Conservancy Association, Green Lantau Association, Friends of the Earth, Kadoorie Farm and Worldwide Fund for Nature) and relevant Government Departments especially in connection with the development of the emergency rescue trail, the tower locations, the alignment and the termini locations. All parties have been provided with working papers and the draft EIA and their comments taken on board throughout the Study. The feedback from these parties and the Country and Marine Parks Boards (since 1999) has allowed a more robust assessment to be undertaken. In particular, consideration has been given to developing of workable solutions and methods for working within the Country Park while upholding principles of conservation and ecological protection. To this end various guiding principles have been developed and transposed into working principles for the construction and operation of the cable car. These include but are not limited to the development of a code of practice specifically for work within the Country Park and a nature conservation policy specifically for the implementation of this Project.

E.4 Terminal Locations and Cable Car Alignment

Throughout the development of the project various alignments and terminal locations have been considered. At the Country and Marine Parks Board meeting on 23^rd January 2003 and no objections were raised on the Cable Car alignment or tower locations. The route, referred to as Alignment 7 was favoured for a variety of reasons including the protection of ecology and environmental resources. Alignment 7 was therefore used as the basis for the impact assessment and its acceptability verified throughout the EIAO process. The conclusions of the individual assessments, which have been carried out in accordance with the Study Brief, are given in the following paragraphs.

E.5 Emergency Rescue Trail and Helicopter Touch Down Points

Provision of an emergency rescue trail is required as part of the overall rescue system. The final details of the emergency rescue trail have yet to be finalised (between MTRC, FSD and EMSD). But in order to assess the worst case situation, the assumption in the EIA was that an emergency rescue trail of not more than 1.5m wide would be located beneath the cableway (1.5m is the width of the trail at Ocean Park). If wider trail is needed then a variation to the permit will be sought. The emergency rescue trail will be formed generally using natural materials to provide a proper and safe route for transportation of passengers in emergency situations. The trail will also serve as the maintenance access for the cable car system and possibly as a hiking trail for the Country Park. In addition, the trail may also contain power and communication cables which are needed to maintain safe operations.

Only one trail will ultimately be formed in the Country Park, and so in some places the existing Country Park trail will be upgraded as part of the emergency rescue trail (with steps in gradient greater than 1 in 4 again using ready formed blocks to provide safe passage in those steep areas) from Tower 3 towards Tung Chung. It must be stressed that while the principle of only using natural materials in the formation of the rescue trail is the design presumption, passengers in the cabins will not necessarily be equipped for hiking and so safety is fundamental.

Although, the proposed emergency rescue trail will traverse a significant length of the cableway, it is particularly necessary at locations where the height of the ropeway is not more than 60m in height, these are:

· between Tower 3 and Tower 6 including sections with steps (in areas where the gradient is greater than 1 in 4). For these short sections of the rescue route the steps will be constructed using ready formed blocks (e.g. wooden, recycled plastic or expanded metal walkways.) to provide safe passage in the short steep sections; and

· between Tower 7 and Ngong Ping Terminal.

In order to convey passengers who have been rescued from the system (in the event of failure) helicopter touch down points will be needed, where the passengers cannot safely walk for help. Six potential touch down points have been identified from which three will be selected. All are on grassland (with a few scattered low shrubs) at strategic locations on ridgelines that provide a suitable landing surface. There will be no concrete required at these touch down points. Three touch down points have been selected and the ecological impacts on these sites have been identified through site visits and are considered to be minor.

E.6 Construction Methods

Terminal Buildings

Construction methods for the Cable Car terminals will follow standard practices and will include excavation, foundations, superstructure, cladding and finishing. The Tung Chung terminal will be a signature building reflecting the modern architecture of the airport and the New Town, while at Ngong Ping the style will be in keeping with the monasteries and Buddhist community and will be relatively simple.

Angle Stations

At the angle station the housing is expected to be of light steel structure (due to constraints on the import of materials to the Country Park (for the Nei Lak Shan angle station) and the need to blend in as far as possible with the surroundings. At the Angle station at the airport island there will also be a maintenance building (two to three storeys high) which will be designed to blend into the surroundings.

Towers

The towers will essentially be constructed using prefabricated sections for the tower itself, which will be founded on raft type foundations or small pad foundations. As all materials will need to be imported to site either by hand carry or by helicopter (or material ropeway) the use of as much off-site prefabrication as possible is assumed. This has added environmental benefits of minimising wastes generation and offsite disposal, reducing potential for spillages or dispersal of materials on site.

Emergency Rescue Trail

The emergency rescue trail could be constructed by use of small handheld tools to clear the vegetation and to provide a narrow shallow trench for the laying of systems (fibre optic) cables. The trench will immediately be backfilled and reinstated to minimise any visual impacts. The design of the trail will generally follow the principles developed by the New South Wales National Park Service (1985) Walking Track Construction Guidelines: A guide to the construction and maintenance of walking trails and those adopted in Hong Kong Country Parks.

Construction using Helicopters and a Material Ropeway

Due to the fact that the majority of the ‘Preferred Alignment’ i.e. Alignment 7 is located within a mountainous area, a large portion of which being within the Lantau North Country Park construction of the towers and angle station is deemed to be only feasible by means of helicopters.

The number and type of helicopters selected for construction works will depend on the structural forms of the towers, i.e., steel or concrete, weight lifting capacities required and weather conditions experienced and the successful contractors proposal. Transportation to the angle station will also involve the lifting of motors, gearboxes and drive wheels irrespective of the cable car system adopted. This would require these units to be broken down into smaller components and reassembled on site (which may prove difficult and be unacceptable), or alternatively a larger lifting capacity helicopter would be used for this operation.

An alternative means of conveying materials to and from site is to use a material ropeway. The system would need to convey loads of around 8 tons; the systems suppliers have made a suggestion that such a system would be feasible if constructed in parallel to the preferred Alignment. The distance between the two systems would be of the order of 20m. The temporary material ropeway would be supported by a series of “towers” which would be used to convey the track rope. The “towers” would be temporarily anchored into natural soil or rock. Around 19 temporary towers would be required, and helicopters would be needed for delivery to the temporary tower locations.

Assessments carried out for both construction methods which focus particularly on the ecological impacts (specifically habitat removal and further disturbance) and noise impacts associated with the provision of a second (albeit temporary) ropeway. The helicopter construction method has been assessed to have lower environmental impacts (particularly ecological) and the MTRC believes that, while technically feasible, the materials ropeway is not beneficial to working to the high standards required in the Country Park.

E.7 Air Quality

Construction of the proposed cable car system may cause short-term air quality impacts on the surrounding air sensitive land uses at the terminal stations, the tower sites and the proposed emergency rescue trails along the route. However, it is expected that the dust generated from the construction works of tower and angle stations; the excavation and laying of utilities in the emergency rescue trails to maintain safe operations would be of small scale, localised and short-term. In addition to this, no ASRs have been identified within 500m distance from the boundary of the works area for these construction works.

Potential cumulative dust impacts could be related to the concurrent construction activities associated with the planned development in the vicinity of the Project including the proposed Sewage Treatment Works and Sewerage, and Cable Car associated Theme Village at Ngong Ping.

The predicted 1-hour and 24-hour TSP levels at the ASRs will comply with the dust acceptable criteria of 500 mgm^-3 and 260 mgm^-3 respectively during earthworks and termini construction except ASRs 1 and 2 at Ngong Ping and ASRs 9, 13 and 14 at Tung Chung due to in close proximity to the works site (refer to Figure E.2and Figure E.3). The cumulative dust impacts predicted at ASRs 1, 2, 9, 13 and 14 indicate maximum hourly dust levels of 1593 mgm^-3, 713 mgm^-3, 1237 mgm^-3, 1696 mgm^-3and 1849 mgm^-3 and maximum daily dust levels of 725 mgm^-3, 346 mgm^-3, 573 mgm^-3, 771 mgm^-3 and 837 mgm^-3, which would exceed the recommended hourly TSP guideline level of 500 mgm^-3 by 219%, 43%, 147%, 239% and 270%, and daily TSP guideline level of 260mgm^-3, by 179%, 33%, 120%, 197% and 222% respectively.

Dust suppression measures are therefore recommended to reduce emissions from the site to ensure the criteria would not be exceeded. The predicted results show that with the inclusion of mitigation measures dust levels at all ASRs will comply with both the hourly and daily dust criteria.

From the assessments conducted it has been concluded that dust mitigation measure are necessary to protect sensitive receivers from the effects of fugitive dust emissions during construction of the termini. The provision of standard measures such as hoardings, use of tarpaulins over stockpiles etc. will be sufficient to reduce dust to an acceptable level.

E.8 Noise

The main construction activities comprise construction site formation, excavation, construction of foundations and superstructure. Construction activities for the Cable Car project are expected to be undertaken during normal daytime working hours (i.e. 0700 to 1900 hours on any day not being a Sunday or public holiday) although some works at the Tung Chung Terminal could take place over a longer period of time (e.g. 0700 - 2300 for steel fixing/form work etc.). According to the programme given in the EIA for the construction of Ngong Ping Sewage Treatment Work (STW) construction works are likely to overlap with Cable Car project to match the opening date.

A plant inventory consisting of the Cable Car project and Ngong Ping STW (based on Table 4.8 of Section 4 of approved EIA report under Register No. EIA-079/2002 “Ngong Ping Sewage Treatment Work and Sewerage”) has been established. Due to the remote nature of work sites for the tower locations, helicopters could be used to transport construction materials to the tower sites.

The most seriously affected area is village house-Kam Wai Yuen in Ngong Ping Area (at NSR1a) and Tung Chung Crescent-Block 7 (Flat A) in the Tung Chung Area (at NSR4) where unmitigated noise levels of up to 78 dB(A) and 85 dB(A) are predicted when the construction of Ngong Ping Terminal, Tower 7 and Ngong Pong STW as well as Tung Chung Terminal and Airport Angle Station overlap (refer to Figure E.4).

Not unexpectedly, the construction of the two terminals will result in elevated noise levels. Although the use of helicopters may generate short term noise impacts upon take-off or landing the impacts predicted will still be acceptable at the closest receivers of the proposed touch down point sites. Other construction impacts can be mitigated and will be within the acceptable noise levels, assuming standard mitigation is effected.

Once the system is operational, the noise impacts will be confined to those associated with the mechanical equipment at the termini and angle stations. With mitigation full compliance with the standards will be achieved.

E.9 Water Quality

The Cable Car Project does not require the diversion of any streams, however the Project will provide restitution of a stream at the Ngong Ping terminal location. The assessments has confirmed that the minimal impact on water quality and indeed the assessment demonstrated that there are benefits to be accrued such as the restitution of the stream course using soft bank side materials on the boundary of the Terminal site at Ngong Ping and the potential re-use of treated effluent from the Ngong Ping Sewage Treatment Works.

By implementation of mitigation measures and adherence to the practice notes and codes of practice for work within the Country Park and Water Gathering Grounds, the water quality impacts are deemed to be acceptable. Inspections of the work sites and the stream courses as part of the routine auditing of the works is expected to be adequate for the protection of the water resources. However in the event of spillages or accidental discharges the emergency control plan would need to be implemented and checked for effectiveness.

Water Quality Objectives for re-use of effluent at Ngong Ping for flushing and irrigation have been recommended along with mitigation measures and are included in Section 5 of the EIA for use on this Project.

E.10 Wastes

Wastes arising from the construction of the Project will be effectively handled, transported and disposed of according to the waste management strategies including the Environmental Code of Practice which has been developed for this Project. Management strategies have focussed on the minimisation of waste generation through re-use on site as far as practical. The estimated types and volumes of waste generated have been identified are excavation, vegetation and a small amount of other construction wastes such as municipal wastes and construction materials (wrappings, plastics etc.). The excavated materials and vegetation will be reused where possible on site (i.e. landscaping), particularly for the construction of the towers within the Country Park. The Contractor will be also required to develop a specific waste management plan for his works.

The following sites were identified as possible locations for disposal of excavated materials, construction and demolition waste & materials, chemical waste in conjunction with the construction programme of the proposed works:

· the public filling area at Tung Chung Development Phase 3A;

· the public fill stockpiling area at Mui Wo;

· the landfill site WENT in West New Territories;

· Chemical Waste Treatment Centre (CWTC) at Tsing Yi; and

· material that is not acceptable at the CWTC (such as spent batteries) can be sent to a co-disposal landfill such as the SENT Landfill.

During the operational phase wastes will include wastewater from domestic effluent and maintenance oils/ lubricants etc. and general domestic wastes (lunch boxes paper etc.). Provided appropriate measures are undertaken to reduce waste arisings and to control wastes to acceptable levels, no significant impacts are expected.

E.11 Ecology

Detailed ecological baseline surveys have been conducted and the results added to the extensive database of habitat conditions in this area. The alignment and tower and angle station locations have been selected in areas of low ecological value. The total area anticipated to be temporarily disturbed by the towers and the angle station locations is approximately 4 hectares. Ecological issues are not a key concern at either terminal location vis-à-vis the construction phase as these are both located in areas of low ecological potential.

The major impacts considered are the loss of woodland and tall shrub habitat, potential disturbance to significant flora species and temporary disturbance to significant fauna species. A summary of the vegetation disturbed at all construction areas is outlined in the table below and in Figure E.5.

Approximate Habitat Loss / Landscape Impacts Arising from the Project (ha)

Habitat	Description and Location (and Totals)	Study Area (permanent loss) (ha)	Study Area (temporary loss) (ha)	Total
Grassland	Nei Lak Shan Angle Station	0.20	0.26	0.46
	Tower 6	0.01	0.13	0.14
	Emergency Rescue Trail	0.30	0.03	0.33
	Touch Down Point (2)	0.00	0.10	0.10
	Total HC	0.51	0.52	1.03
	Total MRC	0.00	0.03	0.03
	*Total*	0.51	0.55	1.06
Low shrub	Tower 3	0.01	0.13	0.14
	Tower 4	0.01	0.13	0.14
	Tower 5	0.01	0.13	0.14
	Tower 7	0.01	0.13	0.14
	Ngong Ping Terminal	0.30	0.09	0.39
	Emergency Rescue Trail	0.30	0.03	0.33
	Total HC	0.64	0.64	1.28
	Total MRC	0.00	0.01	0.01
	*Total*	0.64	0.65	1.29
Developed area	Tung Chung Terminal	1.50	0.25	1.75
	Tower 1	0.01	0.13	0.14
	Airport Island Angle Station	0.30	0.06	0.36
	Tower 2A	0.01	0.13	0.14
	Tower 2B	0.01	0.13	0.14
	Emergency Rescue Trail	0.02	0.01	0.03
	Total HC	1.85	0.71	2.56
	Total MRC	0.00	0.00	0.00
	*Total*	1.85	0.71	2.56
Plantation	Airport Island Angle Station	0.30	0.06	0.36
Stream	Ngong Ping Terminal	0.00	30m*	30m*
Tall shrub	Emergency Rescue Trail	0.09	0.01	0.10
	Total HC	0.09	0.01	0.10
	Total MRC	0.00	0.03	0.03
	*Total*	*0.09*	*0.04*	*0.13*
Woodland	Emergency Rescue Trail	0.03	0.09	0.12
	Total HC	0.03	0.09	0.12
	Total MRC	0.00	0.00	0.00
	*Total*	*0.03*	*0.09*	*0.12*
Total HC		3.42	2.03	5.45
Total MRC		0.00	0.07	0.07
Total Loss		3.42	2.10	5.52

Note: MRC: Material Ropeway Construction

HC: Helicopter Construction

*: Indicates the approximate length of the stream that will be disturbed

The values provided in this table are based on the tower base size, terminal location, Angle stations and their respective anticipated construction area. The figures listed are provided as an approximate indication of the potential habitat loss. The areas have been calculated from the proposed construction areas while the Emergency Rescue Trail has been calculated from Figure 7.3.

Source: Information adapted from MTRC Land Use Map and Figure E.5.

Mitigation measures including compensation planting of approximately 2 hectares of woodland vegetation to compensate for the 0.25ha loss of tall shrub and woodland habitats (and approximately 2.96 total loss of habitat not including developed areas). It is considered that with appropriate construction practices (fencing off areas, restriction of construction areas, use of portable toilets etc.) impacts will be minimised. By implementation of mitigation measures and adherence to the practice notes and codes of practice for work within the Country Park, the ecological impacts are deemed to be acceptable.

E.12 Landscape and Visual Impacts

Landscape impacts resulting from the cable car development will comprise two main types. The first type is the physical impact on existing vegetation. That is, during construction relatively small and discrete areas of hillside grass and shrub vegetation will be cleared in the course of installing towers 3 to 7, the upland angle station, the emergency rescue trail and Ngong Ping Terminal. In addition, a small area of amenity roadside planting by towers 1 and 2B will be disturbed. The majority of the disturbed vegetation will be reinstated upon completion by replanting below the towers and compensatory planting to the periphery of the terminal buildings and emergency trail. The alignment avoids areas of mature trees and fung shui features.

The second type of landscape impact is the intrusion of the cable car as a man-made element into the more natural landscape character of the Lantau hills. This represents the key source of both landscape and visual impacts. As with cable cars throughout the world the towers, cables and gondolas of the system are visible features in the landscape. By necessity cable cars are aligned on high ground spanning between hilltops and cannot be concealed.

Summary of Cable Car Structures

Structure	Approximate Land Requirement (for construction)	Approximate Dimensions
Tung Chung Terminus (Refer to Figures 8.8 and 8.9 for illustrations of building)	17,270m²	30m high
Tower No. 1	1,225m²	40m high
Tower No. 2A	1,225m²	40m high
Airport Angle Station (Refer to Figure 8.10 for illustration of angle station)	7,232m²	34m high
Tower No. 2B	1,225m²	51m high
Tower No. 3 (Refer to Figure 8.11 for illustration of typical trail steps)	1,225m²	16m high
Tower No. 4 (Refer to Figure 8.12 for illustration of typical cable tower)	1,225m²	45m high
Tower No. 5	1,225m²	45m high
Upland Angle Station (Refer to Figure 8.13)	4,617m²	15m high
Tower No. 6	1,225m²	28m high
Tower No. 7	1,225m²	47m high
Ngong Ping Terminus (Refer to Figures 8.2 and 8.14)	3,844m²	12m high

In the urban area around the Tung Chung Terminal and Airport Island Angle Station the relative landscape and visual impacts are reduced due to the background view of the more visually intrusive airport island and the general noise, movement and mass of the road and railway infrastructure. Indeed, at Tung Chung the proposed site is undeveloped and used temporarily for bus parking. The terminal building would actually enhance the landscape and visual amenity of this site. At Ngong Ping, the terminal location has been selected to one side of the settlement in a relatively unobtrusive area. With sensitive design it will not detract from the special landscape character and ambience of the Buddha and Monastery or intrude on any key views.

The most remote portion of the cable car route is in the mid-section, at Towers 5 and 6 and the upland Angle Station. This is where the contrast between the man-made structures and the open hillside is most obvious, particularly the Angle Station, when viewed from the summit of Nei Lak Shan. The scale of the Angle Station structure has been reduced to the absolute minimum required to achieve its necessary function. Nevertheless, the resulting form will comprise an elevated open-sided deck with a lightweight steel weatherproof canopy to protect the turning gear. The potential visual intrusion of the Angle Station merits an innovative landscape design solution. Accordingly, it is proposed that the roof panels of the structure be interchangeable. This would allow panels with green tones to be installed in summer to match the backdrop of lush green vegetation and panels with ochre tones to be installed in winter to match the browner vegetation of the dry season. This ‘chameleon’ colour concept will help to blend the structure more subtly with the surrounding hillside.

The landscape and visual impact assessment has attempted to achieve as balanced a perspective as possible of the proposed development. Regarding the mid-section of the cable car in the upland area it has been noted that in addition to the above design guidelines there are a number of mitigating factors which help reduce the significance of landscape and visual impacts in this sensitive area.

· This location is not readily visible from either Tung Chung or Ngong Ping where the majority of VSRs are located.

· Hill walkers climbing Nei Lak Shan will see the existing radio mast, ancillary buildings and security fencing on the summit in the immediate foreground all of which are arguably more visually intrusive than the cable car.

· The trail to Nei Lak Shan is neither sign posted nor one of the popular footpaths in the area. Hikers have better alternative paths including the Lantau Trail and views to more spectacular mountains to the east which are not affected by the cable car development.

Although the cable car cannot be concealed from view, the route selected has minimised the number of sensitive receivers overall. In addition, the adopted bi-cable system uses only a small number of towers. These fundamental design decisions will greatly reduce the landscape and visual impacts of the entire system and keep the development as ‘lightweight’ as possible. The approximate net loss of landscape resources as a result of the various features of the cable car development are summarised in Section E.11 above.

E.13 Cultural Heritage

The cultural heritage assessment has taken account of all potential resources which could be impacted by the Project, including graves and fung shui elements. The assessments have been conducted in accordance with the requirements of the Antiquities and Monuments Office (AMO) and have concluded that no adverse impacts would result, and that no mitigation or monitoring is required during the construction or operation of the Project. Indeed the resources of cultural heritage will be beneficial in terms of the tourism potential and increasing visitors to the Country Parks.

E.14 Risks

Various scenarios have been considered in connection with the risks associated with the proximity of the tank farm to the alignment of the Cable Car System. The scenarios include consideration of tank fire, inner bund fire, outer bund fire, ditch fire and pool fire on the sea. The individual and societal risks to cable car workers and passengers have been assessed and shown to be acceptable when compared with the Technical Memorandum of the EIAO (Annex 4).

E.15 Environmental Mitigation and Audit

Environmental monitoring and audit procedures have been identified for the specific confirmation of the mitigation and protection measures proposed with emphasis being placed on ecology and habitat protection. Routine monitoring is also recommended for confirming the mitigation measures are being implemented correctly and as effectively as predicted.

E.16 Overarching Conclusions

The EIA has been completed in accordance with the requirements of the EPD Study Brief No. ESB-068/2001. An alignment between Tung Chung and Ngong Ping has been proposed which has least impact on the Country Park (and its future extension) environment while still allowing the safe construction of the towers to progress. In keeping with the basic tenets of the MTR’s Environmental Policy the Cable Car System has been designed to minimise environmental and ecological impacts, reduce energy consumption and minimise landscape and visual impacts.

The EIA has surmised that provided the recommended mitigation measures are implemented, there will be no significant impacts of the construction or operation of the cable car on the Lantau North Country Park or at the termini locations at Tung Chung and Ngong Ping. Assuming the mitigation proposed within this EIA the cable car can be constructed and operated within acceptable standards.

Early discussions have been held with interested parties and relevant Government Departments to consider the views and opinions on the terminal locations, the alignment, the form of the towers and the emergency rescue trail. The feedback has been used in the assessment of the Project and has allowed design principles to be developed and avoidance of conflicts where possible.

To assist implementation of the overarching environmental policies stated by the MTR various recommendations have been made including a Nature Conservation Policy, which has been derived specifically for this Project.

Rev	Date	Originator	Checker	Approver	Description
A	December 2002	Various (Anne Watker-Zeris)	Terry Chung	K M Yeung
B	January 2003	Various (Anne Watker-Zeris)	Terry Chung	K M Yeung
C	March 2003	Various (Anne Watker-Zeris)	Terry Chung	K M Yeung