Taisugar farmland turned into factory, Xinyuan residents sue and lose first instance

Residents of Luzhu District in Kaohsiung City, unhappy that the Kaohsiung City Government approved the Xinyuan Farm development project and worried that turning farmland into a factory will pollute the land, and noting that no environmental impact assessment was carried out, filed an administrative lawsuit half a year ago demanding the revocation of the development permit for Xinyuan Farm. On the afternoon of December 3, the Kaohsiung High Administrative Court issued its first-instance ruling, dismissing the residents' request and upholding the original administrative act changing the land use zoning.

Nearly twenty members of the Xinyuan Farm Self-Rescue Association and environmental group representatives were present to wait for the verdict. After learning of the loss, Hsu Tung-yuan, secretary-general of the Xinyuan Farm Environmental Self-Rescue Association, said they would continue to appeal. He believes that a land development project of more than ten hectares requires an environmental assessment, yet a 60-hectare industrial zone development project surprisingly does not require one: "The Environmental Impact Assessment Act is the treasured sword for preventing environmental destruction. Today's ruling shows the sword has rusted and has a big loophole; even the court cannot protect us."

Chiu Cheng-chiang, spokesperson for the Kaohsiung High Administrative Court, said in a media interview that the residents took the Kaohsiung City Government's "land use zoning change" administrative act as the subject of their case, but the residents were not parties to the land change, so there was a problem of "lack of standing as a party," and therefore the residents' request was dismissed.