The government has decided not to reassemble Queen's Pier at its former site, Secretary for Development Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said.

She told the Harbour-front Enhancement Committee yesterday that the majority of city residents would like to see the iconic colonial waterfront relic maintain its functional use as a pier.

This was indicated by comment cards, face-to-face interviews, telephone polls and community engagement forums, she said.

Lam added that the majority consensus is for the pier to be relocated between Central Piers numbers 9 and 10 along the waterfront instead of at its original site where it would be landlocked by the Central reclamation. In addition, the change of site would mean the work can be completed in 2013, one year earlier than planned.

The decision to relocate the pier had nothing to do with technical difficulties, Lam said. "It is based on the majority of public responses."

Lam said 49 percent of those filling in comment cards preferred the new location against 27 percent seeking a return to the original site. In face-to-face interviews it was 58 to 27 for the new site. Focus group workshops, however, were 39 to16 for the original site.

It has also been decided to reassemble the clock from the Star Ferry Clock Tower at its original location, Lam said.

A gallery at the site will display various memorabilia salvaged from the old Star Ferry terminal.

The government has further agreed to lower the development density in front of Two IFC after rising concerns that the density was too high for a site close to the waterfront.

However, a Task Group on Urban Design Study for the New Central Harbourfront insists that the majority of Hongkongers prefer Queen's Pier to be reassembled at its original location with a large lagoon created in front of it. They believe this will maintain the pier's historic connections with Edinburgh Place and City Hall.

The group also claims the support of architects and heritage concern groups. Engineers and surveyors on the other hand are in general supportive of the waterfront option.

Green Sense yesterday expressed disappointment at the decision to relocate the pier, saying it will diminish its historic value.

The removal of Queen's Pier in 2007 caused a public outcry and a wave of protests and litigation.

Two members of conservation group Local Action who sought a judicial review against the decision to dismantle it lost their lawsuit and were recently ordered to pay HK$270,650 in legal costs.