Roadworks: None
Railway: 5.7 km aerial ropeway
Reclamation/dredging: None
Power Station: None
Drainage Work: None
Development Area: Maximum eight towers, two termini
An application with Reference ESB-048/2001 for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Study Brief under section Q1 of the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance was submitted with a Project Profile.
The closest sensitive receiver, Tung Chung Crescent, contains 600 dwellings which could be affected by construction noise. After implementing mitigation measures such as the use of quiet plant and temporary movable noise barriers during the construction phase, approximately 600 dwellings will be protected.
Based on the data contained in Table 8.3 of the EIA report, it is estimated that there will be the following number of VSRs in Tung Chung and Ngong Ping affected to some extent by the cable car development:
Tung Chung:
· The alignment has been selected to minimise visual impacts on the residents in around 25 to 30 high-rise blocks either existing or soon to be completed with flats oriented towards the cable car and those residents in around 20 villages and temple complexes within the Tung Chung hinterland.
· The workers in the industrial buildings on the southern perimeter of the Airport Island and visitors to open spaces will be affected for a relatively short period.
Ngong Ping:
· It is noted from the visual impact assessment that the cable car development is not generally visible to the residents in Ngong Ping.
· The large number of annual visitors to the Buddha and Po Lin Monastery cannot be readily quantified but should nevertheless be noted as the cable car terminal can be seen from the elevation of the Buddha statue platform.
Care has been taken to ensure the overarching environmental policies of the MTR have been taken into account. A nature conservation policy has also been developed specifically for this Project to protect the environment in general and the North Lantau Country Park and it future extensions and the Water Gathering Grounds.
The use of helicopters for transporting material to the sites, instead of the use of a haul road or a material ropeway, is a positive outcome.
The mode of transport is fundamentally environmentally friendly and has added benefits of providing environmental friendly and has added benefits of providing environmental education, energy savings and opportunities for demonstrating state of the art environmental technology (especially at the terminals).
Energy saving (through inter alia the selection of the Bi-Cable system), re-use of treated effluent (wherever possible), minimisation of ecological impacts and landscape impacts and waste reduction/reuse/recycling measures during construction are integral to the design of the Project.