Government mulls developing underperforming Tuen Mun terminal into housing estate

The 65-hectare site could provide some 20,000 homes.

The Task Force on Land Supply is mulling a proposal that seeks to develop the River Trade Terminal in Tuen Mun into a housing estate that can provide some 20,000 homes in an effort to plug Hong Kong’s severe housing gap.

According to a press release, the 65-hectare, privately-run RTT has been largely underperforming as the utilisation rate was only 24% of its capacity and it only handled a measly 3% of Hong Kong Port’s total throughput.

"Given that Tuen Mun West is predominantly industrial in character, an option discussed by the Task Force is to accommodate industrial and brownfield-related operations at the RTT site. The Task Force also discussed the possibility of using the site for housing development, but this would be more challenging in terms of ensuring compatibility with the adjoining industrial uses," said Task Force Chairman Stanley Wong, adding that the impact of air pollution and noise problems common to industrial facilities pose risks to the potential housing site.

This comes as the Lam administration is leaving no stone left unturned in its quest to unlock more land to convert into housing supply after considering building homes atop transport infrastructure and even Disneyland’s proposed area for expansion.

The Task Force on Land Supply has discussed over ten supply options for its past eleven meetings to consolidate all relevant information for a public engagement targeted to be unveiled by May.

Photo from Exploringlife - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0