The story of save-wye.org seems destined to follow me around the world. It’s a tale about a tiny rural community in Kent beating off some nasty publicly-funded developers. But my does it travel. During my chat at Post 97 I met a couple of people who knew people in Wye who’d been involved in the battle. And more than one member of the audience came up to complain about the lack of environmental protection in Hong Kong.

‘Why don’t you start a “saved” campaign for us?’ someone asked. Well, in part because one of the lessons we learned in Wye is that people really do have to stand up and do these things for themselves, quickly and with the occasional bout of ruthlessness if it’s to get anywhere. From just a few brief chats it’s clear there’s plenty to be concerned about.

The old Star Ferry Terminal, with its clock tower, has already gone, and there’s plenty more to worry about besides - take a look here for starters. I really hope Hong Kong doesn’t become some polyglot international metropolis out of the Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts school of architecture. History matters, and so does public opinion. Mind you, when people say at least there’s consultation in England I am somewhat sceptical. Wye had consultation aplenty; it simply consisted of people sitting in rooms waiting for the protesters to get bored, and intent on doing what they wanted all along regardless.

In a fast-developing place like Hong Kong there are always going to be difficult decisions. Some people think the old Star Ferry terminal wasn’t much to write home about in any case. And it should be said that this disregard for the past isn’t new; Hong Kong had it when the British were in charge. Am I dreaming when I seem to remember that there used to be a cricket pitch in Chater Road, not far from the Star Ferry terminal, when I first turned up in the 1970s?

I hope it works out, folks. I hope the environmentalists get their act together with a decent website too, because if they have I couldn’t find it. Here’s an example of the different that can make.

If you type ’save wye’ into Google you get this….

If you type ’save Hong Kong’ you get this…

If you have any sites to suggest feel free to put them as a comment below.