The Legislative Council (LegCo) has confirmed that the Designated Demonstration Area at the complex, along with the surrounding LegCo Square, is being used as a car park. LegCo Square and the Designated Demonstration Area at the front of the Legislative Council complex on April 22, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. In a response to HKFP earlier last month, the LegCo Secretariat said that the revamp was part of the renovations which took place after the number of lawmakers was expanded from 70 to 90 for the 2022 legislative term. LegCo Square and the Designated Demonstration Area at the front of the Legislative Council complex on April 22, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. The Secretariat said: “Since the completion of the expansion project of the Legislative Council (“LegCo”) Complex, all 90 LegCo Members and their staff as well as staff of the LegCo Secretariat have moved into the Complex and have been working under one roof.”
It added, “To meet operational needs, the LegCo Square and the whole area (including the Designated Demonstration Area) outside the main entrances to the Complex have been used as a parking area for Members and visitors to the Complex. The Legislative Council Commission will keep the use of this area under review from time to time.” LegCo Square and the Designated Demonstration Area at the front of the Legislative Council complex on April 22, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. It did not respond when asked when the car park work was completed, but according to a LegCo fact sheet , major expansion works were completed at the complex last year.
Status of protest area ‘clear,’ says LegCo
The Designated Demonstration Area was intended as the only authorised location for petitions and protests at the legislature. However, it was closed during the 2019 pro-democracy protests and unrest . After the turmoil and the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions that followed, then-legislative president Andrew Leung hinted that the protest area could reopen in early 2025 at the latest. He dismissed concerns that the extended closure was for political reasons, stating that it “can only reopen when we get rid of the glass and can ensure it is safe,” according to the Standard in 2023. LegCo Square and the Designated Demonstration Area at the front of the Legislative Council complex on April 22, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Leung may have been referring to the brief occupation of the building on July 1, 2019, by pro-democracy protesters, who broke windows to access the complex and vandalised it. The storming of LegCo on July 1, 2019. File Photo: May James/HKFP. Last August, Leung said the reopening was still under consideration, adding that the “scale of current petition activities had become smaller, and it is necessary to consider whether such a large space is still required,” according to NowTV.
HKFP asked the LegCo Secretariat multiple times last month whether the Designated Demonstration Area was still available for those who wished to submit a petition or stage a protest.
They did not directly confirm whether it remained open, but they referred HKFP to their earlier response, adding that it was already “clear,” and did not “amount to a refusal to confirm if the Designated Demonstration Area is still operational.” LegCo Square and the Designated Demonstration Area at the front of the Legislative Council complex on April 22, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. A Legislative Council handbook for lawmakers, dated this February, suggests that the protest area is still available for applications, despite the new car park. LegCo Square and the Designated Demonstration Area at the front of the Legislative Council complex on April 22, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. The application form for using the area is still online , as are the guidelines – both from 2018. They state: “Members of the public are allowed to stage petitions or demonstrations at the LegCo Square, subject to the terms set out in the ‘Guidelines for staging petitions or demonstrations by individuals and groups at designated demonstration areas in premises managed by The Legislative Council Commission’.”
‘Doors always open’
According to its website, the purpose-built Legislative Council complex at Tamar in Admiralty was opened in September 2011 and included architectural features to showcase transparency. LegCo Square and the Designated Demonstration Area at the front of the Legislative Council complex on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. The website states : “The Tamar Project has been designed with the main theme of ‘Doors Always Open’, ‘Land Always Green’, ‘Sky Will Be Blue’ and ‘People Will Be Connected’.”
No major mass protests have been held in Hong Kong since the onset of the 2020 national security law.