Tainan Deputy Mayor Tseng Hsu-cheng (曾旭正) yesterday said that the Feiyan New Village (飛雁新村) urban renewal plan would be abolished if the Lioujiading Archeological Site (六甲頂遺址) is proven to be on a plot owned by Farglory Land Development Co.
Tseng made the remark at a news conference to announce progress on a plan proposed by Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) last month to launch public discussions to guide decisionmaking related to the development plan.
Tseng said that the city government over the past month invited environmental protection and cultural groups to public hearings, during which it was agreed that the city would arrange a two-stage discussion to gauge public opinion.
The first-stage discussion would involve a workshop attended by botanists, archeologists and property owners to plan the logistics for the workshop, the results of which will be published on the Web site of the city government by the end of this month, he said.
The workshop would address issues about the preservation of trees, the environmental impact of proposed structures, archeological work in relation to the project and how to revitalize existing structures, he said.
Conclusions reached during the workshop would be used as guidelines for discussions during a second-stage forum, during which 100 participants from the public would be chosen from a pool of applicants through a raffle, Tseng said.
He said that conclusions made during the second stage would be put to a vote, the results of which would be presented to the agencies involved as a reference for policymaking.
The urban renewal plan would involve the demolition of the Feiyan New Village — a 3.5-hectare military dependents’ housing complex dating back to the nation’s Japanese colonial era — if passed.
Farglory Land Development in 2013 bought the plot for NT$2.9 billion (US$92.62 million) through open bidding.
Environmental activists and cultural academics have vehemently opposed the project over damage it could inflict on numerous clumps of old trees growing on the site, as well as on the Lioujiading Archeological Site, which academics have said is underneath the village.
Asked about the chances of the entire village being preserved, Tseng said that the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act (文化資產保存法) prohibits any development on land containing archeological sites. If that is the case in Feiyan, Farglory Land Development would have to abandon the project, he said.
Tseng said the city government is reviewing a test excavation plan submitted by the corporation, with excavations likely to begin next month.
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