The Beginning of the Controversy

Various urban development in the 2000s triggered the first round of SWT preservation movements. In 2005, the redevelopment of the Hollywood Road Police Married Quarters and the proposal for the new Kennedy Town MTR Station both included taking down historical masonry walls with a total of more than 40 SWTs living on them. Luckily, both development proposals were revised later on to preserve these tree walls due to huge public opposition.

The incident happened on Bonham Road near St Stephen’s Lane during the summer of 2015 sparked public outrage. After the collapse of the oldest SWT in Hong Kong at that time, the Highways Department decided to remove 5 other SWTs on the same wall for emergency due to new wall cracks and safety concerns 3 weeks later. Local media critized the tree felling for being “sneaky” in the evening, and having no public announcement to the local community beforehand. Many residents felt very heartbroken, as their “old friends” were suddenly gone over night. Since then, almost every tree removal in Hong Kong ended up with emotional debates between tree fellers and tree huggers.

爭議的開始

2000年代，各區的發展項目引發了第一輪的石牆樹保育運動。 2005年，荷李活道警察已婚宿舍(PMQ)的重建和堅尼地城港鐵站的發展計劃都包括拆除歷史石砌擋土牆上合共40多棵石牆樹。幸運的是，由於公眾的強烈反對，兩個發展計劃都進行了修訂，以保留這些社區景觀。

2015年夏天，在般咸道近聖士提反里發生第一次「斬石牆樹」事件，引發公眾關注。當時，一棵全港最古老的石牆樹在大雨中倒塌。在事發三週後，路政署在石牆上發現新的裂縫，繼而以安全問題和緊急情況為由，決定斬去同一石牆上另外5棵健康的石牆樹。傳媒及地區人士形容這次的斬樹行動為「偷偷摸摸」，因為整個工程連夜進行，事前亦沒有知會區內人士。許多居民都感到非常憤慨，因為熟悉的“老朋友”一夜突然「被消失」。自事件以後，香港每次斬樹行動幾乎都成為樹木保育者和樹木管理者之間的激烈爭論。