The government has decided to suspend its plan to build the city’s first-ever Tyre Park – a recreational zone employing used tyres as a major feature – on four vacant plots in Taipa.
Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon said that the government made the decision after considering the divergent opinions raised since the plan was announced last year.
The Municipal Affairs Bureau announced last August that it planned to convert four adjacent plots of land covering an area of about 19,000 square metres in central Taipa into a temporary Tyre Park with a budget of MOP 30 million.
The bureau said its aim was to allow residents to enjoy a new leisure space by making good use of idle plots of land, before determining the area’s permanent use in line with the city’s future urban master plan.
At the time, Cheong said that a row of former textile factory buildings in the area needed to be demolished as their asbestos roofs posed an environmental hygiene threat to nearby residences.
During a Q&A session at the Legislative Assembly, Cheong noted that since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the government has been planning various public projects with the aim of boosting the local economy.
Cheong admitted that the government prematurely announced details of its Tyre Park plan without having fully consulted civil society. Since the announcement, Cheong said, some people had said a temporary project would be a waste of public money, and that the former textile factory buildings should be retained.
According to Cheong, the Cultural Affairs Bureau – which oversees heritage protection in the city – had given a green light to the demolition of the old factory buildings.
As a result, Cheong said that the government has now decided to suspend its plan for a temporary tyre park. He pledged that the government will listen to opinions and suggestions raised in civil society about the future use of the area in line with the official urban master plan – which is now slated to be published at the end of this year, The Macau Post Daily reported.
