Development minister Bernadette Linn said on Thursday that around 60 percent of people who took part in a recent public engagement exercise support the government's plan to reclaim 1,000 hectares of land to build artificial islands in waters off Lantau.

Linn said officials received some 7,800 views on the Kau Yi Chau islands plan.

Sixty percent were in favour, a quarter were against the idea, and the others didn't have a clear stance either way, she said.

A recent Greenpeace phone poll involving 1,000 people found that only 14 percent support the plan.

Asked about this discrepancy, Linn said the views were collected in different ways.

"We contacted a wide range of people through our public engagement exercise, and our polls didn't involve sampling. Through our exhibitions in different districts, people were able to get in touch and learn about this project," the minister said, adding that some 16,000 people attended the sessions.

Linn said the project has been in the pipeline for more than a decade and it's not a question of if it should be done, but how to do it well.

She added that officials hope to begin an environmental impact assessment in the fourth quarter of this year and the public will then be able to see more data on the project's effects on the environment.