Thursday, June 08, 2006

[RealEdge] TodayOnline : Signatures for Seletar


  This story was printed from TODAYonline
 
 
  Signatures for Seletar

Residents, golfers ink a petition to save part of area's rustic charm

Thursday • June 8, 2006

Teo Xuanwei
xuanweit@newstoday.com.sg

LESS than a month after plans to convert Seletar Airport into a major aerospace park were unveiled, some 100 people have put their signatures to a petition to save the area.

A regular golfer at the Seletar Base Golf Course named Mr Raja started the petition, according to a clubhouse spokesperson. As of press time, Mr Raja could not be reached for comment.

Golfers and residents in the area have been streaming to the clubhouse to sign the petition since it was placed there last Sunday.

The petition, addressed to the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, Singapore Land Authority (SLA) and Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), among others, asked for "the authorities to preserve at least a portion of the area that will allow it to be used by the public in its original form".

Today understands that the petition will be placed in the clubhouse for two months with an aim of collecting 2,000 signatures.

Said Ms Regina Meals, 59, who lived there for 52 years before moving to Serangoon in 1999: "I just hope the authorities can leave some of the old, historical parts untouched. I'd do anything to save any part of this area."

Mr Beh Ngiap Kim, 53, agreed: "They don't have to demolish everything, right? Singapore has already lost so much of its old charm."

Last month, the Economic Development Board (EDB) announced a $60-million project to turn the area into a 140ha aerospace park, leaving the fate of surrounding residents, the golf course and the Singapore Youth Flying Club hanging in the balance.

EDB managing director Ko Kheng Hwa had said the new aerospace park, to be ready by 2015, is expected to create 10,000 new jobs and contribute $3.3 billion annually to our economy.

The estate managing agent, United Premas, has sent notices to the tenants of the 305 colonial bungalows and terrace houses in the Seletar Estate to inform them that they have to move out by end-2008. According to the SLA, none of the tenants' leases extend beyond Dec 31, 2008.

Since then, several readers have written to Today expressing their disappointment at the development plans.

Said contractor Mr Beh, who moved in less than two years ago: "I moved here because I love nature and you can't find such ambience anywhere else. And now, suddenly, everything is disrupted."

Mr Soh Edward Fitzgerald, who has lived in the area for the past nine years, wrote in his letter published in Today on Monday: "We feel sad that in Singapore, decisions always have to be made based on economic returns. I hope the relevant authority can look for an alternative site to build the aerospace hub or, at least, preserve the residential area so that existing tenants can be spared the axe."

JTC Corporation and the URA, who will be planning the park, will release details of how the surrounding areas, including the residential areas and the golf course, will be developed at the end of the year, when the aerospace park masterplan is finalised.
 
  Copyright MediaCorp Press Ltd. All rights reserved.

__._,_.___
Real Estate News Provided Freely
.

__,_._,___

// posted by Shajahan @ 10:19 AM


<< Home