District councillors have voted to scrap a popular pedestrian zone in Mong Kok, likely spelling an end for the area’s raucous mix of buskers, whose performances drew large crowds but long frustrated residents and business owners.
Citing noise complaints, 15 members of the Yau Tsim Mong District Council yesterday voted to pass a motion ending the scheme on Sai Yeung Choi Street South, reported inmediahk. One person voted against the motion, and one abstained.
The motion — proposed by councillors from the pro-Beijing Business and Professionals Alliance — is not binding.
According to the inmediahk, a Transport Department representative declined to say how long it would take for authorities to act on the council’s decision.
He said the department was compiling a report on the flow of people and traffic through the area which would be presented to the district council in July, reported hk01.
Sai Yeung Choi Street South was first designated a pedestrian zone in August 2000 in order to ease rush hour traffic.
However, the council later voted to reduce the pedestrian zone hours to weekends and public holidays, after complaints about noise and congestion.
According to a police representative at the meeting, there had been 1,276 complaints about the pedestrian zone last year.
Democratic Party councilor and lawmaker, James To Kun-sun, — who was opposed to the motion — said the government should have focused on regulating street performers, wrote The Standard.
Such a proposal was put forward earlier this year by Civic Exchange, which conducted a study of street activities in Hong Kong.
Citing the ever-escalating “arms race” for audience attention in the world of Mong Kok street performers, the local think-tank has called on authorities to create a licensing scheme for buskers to deal with excessive noise and obstructions caused by clusters of entertainers around the city.
News of the possible end of has invited mixed reactions from those who live, work, or pass through Mong Kok, on.cc reported.
One resident told the website that the pedestrian zone is part of Hong Kong’s culture and tradition, and that a lot of people in the city like to visit the street either to perform or to watch a show.
Another woman surnamed Kwan disagreed, telling the website that most of the performers occupying the street aren’t even Hongkongers.
On Sunday, Apple Daily visited one of the residents, surnamed Lee, who lives above the busy throroughfare. He told the newspaper he was not opposed to street performers, and that limiting hours for performers would be a better option.
Lee moved into his apartment on Sai Yeung Choi Street South in 2003, three years after it became a pedestrian zone. He said back then it was a lot quieter, but in recent years the noise was getting worse and he has to close his windows.
Using a decibel reader in Lee’s apartment, the newspaper recorded highs of 85db with the windows open and 70db with the windows closed. When the decibel reader was taken outside it recorded highs of at least 100db.
One street performer who performs Mandarin pop songs told the newspaper that she was upset with the news that the pedestrian zone could be shut as she has two daughters and will now need to find another job.
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