navigation search this article contains chinese text . without proper rendering support you may see question marks boxes or other symbols instead of chinese characters . society for protection of the harbour type charity industry environmental protection founded november 1995 headquarters hong kong key people winston ka sun chu christine loh jennifer chow slogan protect the harbour website harbourprotection.org society for protection of the harbour sph chinese is a hong kong based organisation founded in november 1995 . it is a charitable non political and non profit making green group . the objectives of the organisation are to protect the victoria harbour in hong kong from destruction caused by government s excessive reclamation and improper development and to arouse public aspirations for the harbour . to preserve the harbour sph has raised a number of objections on related government policies undertaken numerous conservation projects suggested constructive urban planning along the waterfront and carried out public education on harbour protection . contents 1 background 1.1 concerns about possible impacts of harbour reclamation 2 history 3 significant events 3.1 1996 3.2 1997 3.3 1998 3.4 1999 3.5 2000 3.6 2001 3.7 2002 2003 3.8 2004 3.9 2005 3.10 2006 4 parts of harbour sph has saved 5 recent actions 6 suggestion on urban planning along the waterfront 7 awards 8 external links 8.1 news articles 8.1.1 in english 8.1.2 in chinese 8.2 other related articles 9 references background edit there has historically been reclamation of victoria harbour since the early part of the 20th century . since the 1989 when the government had completed its feasibility study and launched the central and wan chai reclamation project there has been growing realisation on the part of the general public of the deterioration of the environment and the encroachment upon the beautiful natural harbour hong kong once had lost to urban and real estate development . concerns about possible impacts of harbour reclamation edit strategic planning harbour reclamation may isolate hong kong from the pearl river delta hinterland setting back economic activities . harbour safety the narrowing of the harbour may create a less favourable environment for navigation and other water activities as water currents become much stronger and space for manoeuvring is reduced . landscape destruction and loss of habitat harbour reclamation may result in a permanent destruction of hong kong s irreplaceable natural asset victoria harbour . the loss of natural coastlines might result in the loss of natural habitats and shallowing feeding areas for many inter tidal creatures that live in shallow sandy bays or on rocky shorelines . air and water pollution intensive development of the reclaimed areas may worsen air quality in the nearby urban area . moreover reclamation worsens the water quality of the harbour thus adversely affecting marine life . flushing action reclamation may narrow the harbour and potentially creates dead spots where there is little flushing tidal action and where litter and sewage could accumulate . history edit the society was established in 1995 inspired by his mother to preserve the victoria harbour winston chu ka sun founded the sph in 1995 . chairman of the local chapter of friends of the earth christine loh became deputy chairperson . jennifer chow and honorary secretary . on 11 october 2003 winston chu announced his resignation as chairperson of sph due to death threats against him and his family . to fill the void left by chu christine loh stepped in as the new chairperson of sph . chu nevertheless continues to provide legal advice and other support to sph . significant events edit 1996 edit in 1996 the society for protection of the harbour conducted the save our harbour campaign which received support of 170 000 signatures from the hong kong public . the same year in may sph succeeded in opposing the government s proposal of reclaiming 190 hectares 20.5 million square feet of green island . the protection of the harbour bill to the legislative council as a private members bill in june and sent a petition to the governor in council chris patten was also produced which was supported by 148 041 signatures from the public in december . 1997 edit in april 1997 sph appointed dr. robert chung of the social sciences research centre of the university of hong kong to conduct an opinion survey on harbour reclamation . the result showed that over 95 % of hong kong people opposed further reclamation on the harbour . in june the protection of the harbour ordinance was legislated . the protection of the harbour ordinance proposed as a private member s bill by christine loh in 1996 and enacted on 30 june 1997 the ordinance was established as a presumption against reclamation in the central harbour . in 1999 further amendment of the ordinance extended its coverage from central harbour to the entire victoria harbour . the aim of the ordinance is to protect and preserve the harbour as a special public asset and a natural heritage of hong kong . the full text of the protection of the harbour ordinance 1998 edit the government s proposals of reclaiming 340 hectares 36.5 million square feet of kowloon bay and 32 hectares 3.5 million square feet of the central waterfront at tamar site were successfully pulled down by sph in january and may respectively . 1999 edit in october 1999 the former chief executive tung chee hwa under the persuasion of sph promised in his 1999 policy address to downsize the reclamation plan for the harbour and to follow the principle of sustainable development as a major concern of the public . in addition he claimed in a public radio conversation with winston chu that the government will try to reduce reclamation to an absolute minimum . in december the proposal of reclaiming a part of north point waterfront for a cruise centre was successfully halted by sph . 2000 edit in march 2000 the town planning board under the persuasion of sph announced in its vision statement for victoria harbour the harbour is to be protected and preserved as a special public asset and a natural heritage of the people of hong kong . reclamation in the harbour should only be carried out to meet essential community needs and public aspirations . 2001 edit in june 2001 sph successfully stopped the government s project of reclaiming 79 hectares 8.5 million square feet of the western district waterfront . 2002 2003 edit during 2002 2003 sph succeeded in applying for judicial review against the town planning board . the government s proposal of reclaiming 26 hectares 2.9 million square feet of the wanchai waterfront was again opposed . on 5 october 2003 sph conducted the blue ribbon campaign 1 in which around 3 000 supporters joined . and hundreds of people signed a petition in signature campaign on 12 october 2003 . in the same year approximately 1000 protesters marched to the government buildings in central to demand a halt of reclamation work on the harbour . 2004 edit in january 2004 the interpretation of the protection of the harbour ordinance suggested by the high court hong kong judgment of madam justice chu was approved by the court of final appeal cfa . moreover sph urged the government to halt all reclamation works in central reclamation phase iii cr3 2 and asked the town planning board to conduct a proper review of the plans with regards to the criteria of the judgment proposed . in march sph held the hand in hand rally in which over 10 000 people formed a human chain along the harbour from central to wan chai to demonstrate against harbour reclamation . in july sph joined save our shorelines sos 3 and clear the air cta 4 to urge the governor to maintain good governance and transparent and fair town planning process.in september sph conducted a vote for the harbour campaign . to include the protection of the harbour in the election platform sph asked its supporters and the hong kong public to give their vote for the harbour and contacted all the candidates and political parties in the legislative council of hong kong to support it . as a result 86 % candidates supported harbour protection and preservation.see results . the story book the adventures of victoria was published to arouse harbour protection awareness and complaints from the government was received because of this publication . in response to the complaint sph had written a letter to donald tsang michael suen and dr. robert chung . 2005 edit from april to may sph held two public campaign ; the kids love the harbour campaign and the giordano selling saving victoria t shirt for teenagers . in septemcber victoria harbour and i photo competition was held . in may sph together with save our shorelines sos and clear the air cta held a joint press release and presented a join petition to the town planning board . in november the action group on protection of the harbour and friends of the harbour foth 5 joined together for the first time to launch the harbour week from 6th to 13th . on 13 november sph action group on protection of the harbour and foth launched a harbour week carnival at the golden bauhinia square wanchai to encourage people to appreciate and care for the victoria harbour . 6 on 17 december another joint press release titled civil society declares victory stop and rethink no rush for the tamar site was published . 2006 edit on 1 january sph has moved its headquarters from central to mr. winston chu s law firm in admiralty . moreover she has reduced the number of staff from two full time officers to only one part time worker . while the move has been viewed by other harbour advisers as a retreat in the sph s operations following the government s commitment not to reclaim the victoria harbour after the legal battle . ms. christine loh chairperson of sph said by saving on rent staff and other utilities we will have more resources for campaigning . it is going to be a long and winding road . this quote needs a citation in january sph appointed the university of hong kong to conduct a public opinion survey planning for west kowloon and the harbour front which showed that the public rejected the developmental proposal of west kowloon cultural district . in april sph and other associations organised a tamar day to raise the public awareness of the impact of the construction in tamar . the sph continues to hold press conference in 2006 . one was on 1 june 2006 mr. simon f.s. li voiced the public message regarding the proposed government headquarters on tamar . another one was held on 1 july 2006 outside the hong kong central library to demonstrate the society s concern and commitment to the protection of the harbour and the enhancement of the harbourfront . parts of harbour sph has saved edit parts of harbour sph has saved time place amount 05 1996 green island 190 ha . 01 1998 kowloon bay 340 ha . 05 1998 central waterfront at tamar 32 ha . 12 1999 north point waterfront 06 2001 western district waterfront 79 ha . 2002 2003 wan chai waterfront 26 ha . recent actions edit the recent action of the society for protection of the harbour is related to the harbour reclamation in the central 1 and wan chai districts . according to the government this project is needed for solving traffic problems and the reclaimed land will be used for commercial development in future . therefore sph is now encouraging hong kong citizens to request the government to review its present policy of extensive development of the above two mentioned districts . there is also a reply slip available from sph s website . 2 the organisation encourages citizens to download it and write down their