More greenery will be retained, but fewer homes will be built at Maju Forest and Gillman Barracks following public feedback on the upcoming housing development at the sites.
These plans will be finalised over the coming month, said Minister of State for National Development Alvin Tan in a Facebook post on Friday (14 Aug).
Source: Brice Li on Facebook
Speaking to the media outside Maju Forest, Mr Tan said the authorities are “looking to make adjustments” to the current plans for the sites.
He said they will try their best to provide “as much greenery as possible, even more than what is set out in the current plans”.
They will work out exactly how much more greenery will be retained, he added.
Source: Alvin Tan on Facebook
However, the adjustments will mean that fewer homes can be built for Singaporeans on both sites, Mr Tan noted.
This is something that “we will have to accept”, he added.
The Government aims to finalise the plans “over the coming month or so”.
The Housing and Development Board (HDB) had announced on 10 July that about 15 hectares (ha) of Maju Forest and at least 10ha of forest at Gillman Barracks could be cleared for new homes to be built on the sites.
Source: Housing & Development Board via Urban Redevelopment Authority
The initial plan was to retain around 8ha of greenery on each site, amounting to 35% of Maju Forest and 40% of Gillman Barracks’ green spaces.
These plans were developed in consultation with nature groups during the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process, Mr Tan noted.
Mr Tan said in Parliament on 4 Aug that the Government will proceed to develop both sites, but the plans had not been finalised.
He said that although the formal consultation period for the EIA and Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) ended on 6 Aug, stakeholder engagements will continue.
On Friday, he thanked Singaporeans for the engagement, noting that many care deeply about these greenery and heritage spaces.
All inputs and voices are valued, including those from MPs “advocating hard on behalf of the residents”, nature groups and members of the public, he said, adding:
We welcome and are still receiving feedback.
Also present was Nature Society (Singapore) (NSS) President Leong Kwok Peng, who said it was “heartening” to see youths and local MPs actively engaging residents over the issue.
Source: Alvin Tan on Facebook
According to Channel News Asia (CNA), NSS has already given its feedback to the Ministry of National Development (MND).
Mr Leong also hoped HDB would share a summary of the feedback received.
Though NSS’ “highest aspiration” is that the forests are left untouched, he urged the authorities to “work harder” to ensure the greenery has “more volume” so it can serve as a ” forest habitat”, not just “a slice of land and a patch of stream up there”.
Thus, two-thirds of the forest should be retained, he suggested.
Two petitions calling for the preservation of Gillman Forest and Maju Forest have so far gathered more than 60,000 signatures combined.
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Featured image adapted from Alvin Tan on Facebook and Brice Li on Facebook.