Owners of a luxury residential development in Tai Kok Tsui yesterday urged the government and developer Henderson Land to return the 200,000 sq ft podium to private use.
The podium, which had been earmarked for the exclusive use of the 3,500 households at Metro Harbourview, has been open to the public since it appeared on a list of 230 privately managed public open spaces released by the Development Bureau on March 28.
Members of the Owner Committee and Rights-Protection Concern Group at Metro Harbourview said at a press conference yesterday that they had been lured by the developer into believing the podium was for private use. The group showed Henderson's advertisements and prospectus stating that flat owners would enjoy the spacious private podium and its many facilities.
Jason Poon Chuk-hung, vice-convenor of the group, said: 'Almost 99.9 per cent of the flat owners in Metro Harbourview were advised by the two law firms recommended by Henderson. The lawyers never drew our attention to the public-open-space problem.'
The developer repeatedly turned down invitations to discuss the problem with the owners and did not attend the press conference yesterday.
Claudia Mo, adviser to the group that chairs the Civic Party's Kowloon West branch, said the government had failed to enforce rules on public open spaces and allowed developers to take advantage of the loopholes.
'The podium garden is a fake public open space. Its design is private and outsider-unfriendly,' she said.