Hong Kong authorities have evicted more residents from a village in the New Territories to make way for the Northern Metropolis megaproject, with one family complaining they received the notice to move out just last month.

But the Development Bureau said on Wednesday that it had notified residents of the deadline over the past two years and exercised discretion in postponing the dates, adding that more than 20 households vacated their homes peacefully and voluntarily during the action by the Lands Department.

Dozens of police officers, department staff members, security guards and workers from the contractors gathered at Yick Yuen Tsuen in Tuen Mun’s Lam Tei in the morning.

They used barriers to block passageways leading to some village houses, with a few officers stationed at the entrances.

Taylor Li and his family were among the villagers bidding farewell to their homes. Li said he was born and raised in the village, where his parents had settled in 1985.

They had been preparing to move out since April, when they were notified to leave in mid-May, he said.