Illegal woodland villas face chop
Print Edition
LUXURY private villas illegally built under the guise of tourism developments are to be demolished, Chongming County government said yesterday.
The government of the scenic island said it will tear down 27 villas dotted among woodland along a stretch of river in Xinguang Village in Xinhe Town.
Far from welcoming tourists, many are hidden behind tall trees, with fences erected and surveillance cameras installed to ensure privacy.
Villager Sun Jian said the villas were empty for most of the time, but owners arrive in luxury vehicles at weekends and hold parties until late.
When the villas were built in 2009, villagers say they were told they were government projects to develop tourism.
But when they saw that they were private residences, locals informed the county government.
“The villas have been confirmed as illegal constructions without approval from the government and all should be torn down,” an official with the publicity department of Chongming government said.
And as the construction work damaged forest and farmland, builders and owners will face fines, the official added.
The county government demolished 12 similar villas in 2013 and will knock down the remaining 27 within three months, said officials.
Secluded behind 9-meter trees, many are three-story European style villas with patios and gardens. Some even feature wooden bridges and cottages and pavilions.
An elderly villager, surnamed Ding, who has lived in Xinguang for 30 years, said the trees were planted in 2003 to improve the environment for villagers.
But now, the public forest is private space, she said.
“We heard the interiors are more luxurious than five-star hotels,” Ding told reporters.
Forest adoption
An official with the Tomato Farm agency, surnamed Huang, said the company rented 800,000 square meters of woodland from the county forest management bureau in November 2009.
Under this, they were to take care of the trees and develop farmhouse tourism.
The lease runs for 49 years, with 600 yuan per year per mu, (0.06 hectare), paid to the forest bureau, according to Huang.
After signing the agreement, Tomato Farm divided the forest into 87 sections and rented these to the villa owners.
One villa owner, who asked to remain anonymous, said he and other owners paid a total of 3 million yuan (US$480,000) in 2009 to build villas after signing a “forest adoption agreement” with Tomato Farm.
He said Tomato Farm never showed owners government certificates, other than the forest adoption agreement.
However, he also admitted that all the owners knew from the beginning that the villas were built for their own use, having nothing to do with forest adoption or farmhouse tourism.
In 2011, Shanghai’s urban planning authority penalized Tomato Farm for illegally occupying some 4,000 square meters of land and building illegal structures, the Shanghai Morning Post reported yesterday.
The authority imposed a fine of more than 80,000 yuan and told Tomato Farm to restore woodland. However, this was not carried out.
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