Poll finds 82 percent think housing prices too high

Poll finds 82 percent think housing prices too high
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2014/06/10/2003592423

Staff writer, with CNA

A housing policy survey recently conducted by the Want Want China Times Poll Center among adults in Taipei, New Taipei City, Greater Taichung and Greater Kaohsiung showed that 82 percent of the respondents think housing prices are unreasonable in comparison with their incomes.

Among the age groups polled, 30-to-39-year-olds were found to be the most dissatisfied with housing prices, with 91 percent complaining that prices are unreasonably high.

Despite the discontent expressed, 69.4 percent of those surveyed listed owning a home as one of their goals in life.

However, 63.6 percent said they could never afford to buy one in an urban area, according to the survey, which collected 2,447 valid samples from telephone interviews which took place between May 12 and May 14.

“Using a real-estate purchase as the core financial management strategy for life will cause significant damage to the nation and society,” said Hua Ching-chun (花敬群), an associate professor at Takming University of Science and Technology.

A good housing policy should make helping the socially disadvantaged the top priority, Hua added, suggesting that the government provide sufficient social housing and take measures to solidify the rental market.

An article published by the Chinese-language China Times yesterday concerning equality in Taiwan featured the failure of the 1990-2014 Danhai New Town (淡海新市鎮) development project in New Taipei City’s Tamsui (淡水) along the northern coast of Taiwan.

The project was aimed at “building housing units for mid and low-income households,” and “resolving the housing problem in the Greater Taipei area,” while “suppressing land prices,” in response to protests about a lack of affordable housing in metropolitan areas and rising house prices.

Danhai New Town was designed to accommodate 300,000 people on 1,756 hectares. However in the past 25 years, the town has had an occupancy rate of less than 10 percent.

Pointing to a group of more than 600 public housing units situated further along the coast, Danhai New Town resident Lu Cheng-chung (盧正忠) said that basically, the project was a failure.

“Those in the middle and lower income brackets cannot afford to commute [between the remote town and the city in which they work], Tamsui resident Wang Chung-ming (王鐘銘) said.

Also, no manufacturing industries want to move to the coast, while many local light industry businesses have been forced to move out due to the government’s land requisition policies and restrictions that prevent industries from expanding, he added.

Urban Reform Promotion Organization secretary-general Peng Yang-kae (彭揚凱) said the government’s housing policy is either encouraging people to buy homes or build cheap public housing.

However, history shows “no one wants to live in a remote area,” Peng said.

As for public housing built in urban areas, he pointed out, the quantity is too small to suppress rising housing prices. The chance of finding this kind of affordable accommodation through the drawing of lots is the same as winning the lottery, Peng said.

Environmentalists hail ‘Tambei’ ruling

Taipei Times
Environmentalists hail 'Tambei' ruling
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2013/09/05/2003571385/2

ROAD RAGE:Local residents and environmentalists vigorously oppose the Tambei Expressway project, as it would encroach on the Mangrove Forest Preservation Area

By Jason Pan  /  Staff writer, with CNA

Environmental groups yesterday hailed as an important victory a decision by the Taipei High Administrative Court rejecting an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report for the proposed Tamsui-Taipei expressway construction project in New Taipei City (新北市).

Although the ruling can still be appealed, environmental activists were happy with the court’s decision and called on the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) to withdraw the EIA and not appeal.

The New Taipei City Government had proposed building a "Tambei Expressway" (淡北道路 Tamsui-Taipei Expressway) along the eastern shore of the Tamsui River.

At present, Highway No. 2 is the only major artery linking Taipei to New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水) and the northeast coastal area. It is clogged with heavy traffic on weekday rush hours, as well as on weekends and holidays.

The road runs along the narrow Zhuwei Corridor (竹圍走廊), which is geographically confined by the Tamsui River to the west and the Tatun Mountains to the east. The Taipei MRT Tamsui Line runs in this corridor, from Zhuwei MRT Station northward to Tamsui MRT Station.

Local residents and environmentalists vigorously opposed the expressway project, as it would encroach on the nearby Mangrove Forest Preservation Area.

After the EPA convened meetings to evaluate the project’s environmental impact, the EIA committee announced its conditional approval for the expressway in July 2011.

However, local residents Wang Chung-ming (王鐘銘) and Chen Fu-chi (陳福齊) organized a petition in August of that year seeking to nullify the EIA report on the grounds the project would negatively impact an important and sensitive natural environment and therefore it required a second-stage EIA.

However, the Executive Yuan’s Petitions and Appeals Committee rejected their petition in February last year.

Wang and members of the Green Party Taiwan filed a lawsuit with the Taipei High Administrative Court in April last year.

Local residents called yesterday’s decision a major victory.

"We hope every EIA case in the future can be evaluated and scrutinized in a thorough and prudent manner. It must be done with participation and input by local residents to protect their natural environment," Wang said.

Other residents were delighted with the decision, saying justice had been served, but New Taipei City Councilor Tsai Chin-hsien (蔡錦賢) was disappointed.

"We have wasted three or four years already. With the construction set to start, the court decision has negated years of effort by many people," Tsai said.

"The court did not respect the wishes of local residents. It is an unreasonable ruling, as the court does not understand the suffering of local residents due to frequent traffic jams," the independent councilor added.

EPA Department of Comprehensive Planning head Yeh Chun-hung (葉俊宏) said his office would study the court judgement and would appeal if there is a possibility of overturning the decision.

He said the EPA could return to a first-stage EIA or go into second-stage EIA, pending its appraisal of the judgement.

Meanwhile, Taipei City Government spokesman Chang Chi-chiang (張其強) said the city government respected the court ruling and would not begin construction unless the project passes an EIA.

The New Taipei City Government, on the other hand, said it would continue construction and would provide the EPA with more information as a basis for a second-stage EIA.

Additional reporting by Lai Hsiao-tung and Wu Liang-yi

Taipei Times: Environmentalists rally against Tamkang Bridge

Environmentalists rally against Tamkang Bridge

RUINING THE VIEW:Protesters said the proposed Tamkang Bridge would destroy the vaunted Tamsui sunset view that has been ranked as one of the great ‘Eight Views of Taiwan’

Wed, Sep 28, 2011
By Lee I-chia / Staff Reporter

A small number of concerned residents rallied in front of the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) in Taipei yesterday, calling on the government to clarify the construction plans for Tamkang Bridge (淡江大橋) and include more civic participation in the construction process.

Green Party central executive committee member Wang Chung-ming (王鐘銘) led about 10 people in the rally.

The bridge will span the Tamsui River (淡水河) in New Taipei City (新北市), linking Bali Township (八里) and Tamsui Township.

The project received conditional approval in 1999 from the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) committee, but construction was postponed because of the Tambei Expressway, which did not get approval until June.

The Directorate-General of Highways said the bridge would be convenient for residents, boost economic development and help ease holiday traffic. However, the area has been considered a famous scenic spot and one of the “Eight Views of Taiwan” (台灣八景) for decades. It is feared that the proposed bridge would obstruct the view.

Wang said the plan would ruin the scenery and questioned the procedural legitimacy of separating the bridge construction plan from the expressway construction plan. The government should have a total development plan for the area and evaluate the impact on and benefits to the natural environment, traffic, culture and economy as a whole, rather than individual segments.

“Some people say the sunset could still be seen on the new bridge, but actually the unique part of the sunset in Tamsui is that you can see the landscape of Bali and Tamsui on both sides of the river mouth, with the sun setting into the ocean,” a local resident surnamed Yan (顏) said.

Following the rally, an EIA meeting on the environmental impact analysis for the alterations to the original plan was held at the EPA’s headquarters in the afternoon.

The main alteration was to widen the bridge from 33m to 44m to include two-way light rail tracks, moving a highway ramp 500m south and changes to the interchange design.

During the meeting, two local residents and a representative from an environmental organization said the public hearings lacked civic participation because they were not announced early enough and very few people attended them.

During the discussion, two committee members asked whether the plan required a new EIA evaluation, because the environment and situation may have changed over the past decade. They said widening the bridge was not a minor alteration.

The meeting concluded that the developers must provide additional information, including an impact assessment for nearby nature reserves and riverbanks, impact analyses for different periods during the day, more public input and public hearings and an evaluation of the safety of water activities in the area.

Taipei Times:

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2011/09/28/2003514393

Don’t destroy wetlands

[ LETTERS ] - Taipei Times

The movement for preserving the mangrove wetlands at Jhuwei (竹圍) on the banks of the Tamsui River (淡水河) began in the 1980s. As a result of a housing construction project, conservationists and academics fought to save the mangroves. They stopped the project and in the end, the wetlands were made into a nature reserve by the government.

In 1997, the first proposal for the Danbei expressway (a expressway along the north bank of the Tamsui River) alarmed people who care about the mangroves. Many groups, including environmental, cultural and community organizations, formed an organization to protect the Tamsui River.

They made posters, held forums, put on concerts and visited legislators, as well as the Taipei county commissioner. In 2000, an environmental impact assessment ruled against the project. The mangroves were saved again.

The former Taipei County government proposed a shorter version of the expressway in 2008. Once again, the mangroves were in danger. I joined the anti-Danbei movement last year and since then I have been working together with local citizens and environmental organizations.

In every environmental impact assessment review meeting by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), Taipei County and its successor, New Taipei City (新北市), have insisted that the expressway would not infringe on the Tamsui River Mangrove Nature Reserve.

The third preliminary review meeting was on April 15. One week before the meeting, a document provided by the New Taipei City Government said that it completed a scene survey with the Forestry Bureau, which confirmed that the planned expressway would not be located within the nature reserve.

However, when we went to the places they surveyed, we found that one of the road stakes was 60cm inside the land boundary stake of the nature reserve.

At the April 15 meeting, the Forestry Bureau admitted after our persistent inquiries that one of the road stakes was indeed within the nature reserve. The city government gave several explanations about the stakes. These explanations were conflicting and none of them clarified the issue. With such a big problem, the meeting should have been halted.

However, it continued and the result of the preliminary review was a “conditional pass.” The EPA is helping the city pave a road into the mangrove wetlands.

People have recognized the value of wetlands in the face of scientific progress and environmental crises for more than 30 years. It is ridiculous to destroy wetlands that have been protected for 30 years.

The Danbei expressway should be canceled, either through the city’s withdrawal of the plan or the EPA’s rejection of the project during the environmental impact assessment committee’s formal review. Otherwise, we will have to apologize to everyone who has helped protect the wetlands and we will be sorry for our loss.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2011/05/07/2003502606