Fate of Kranji marshlands to be resolved soon

Nature Society fears new golf course poses threat to local bird habitats

By Dominic Nathan
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

A DECISION is likely to be taken within the next few days on whether the bird life along the Kranji marshlands will be saved when work starts on a new golf course there.

Marshland bordering the Kranji reservoir waterline is now home to more than 90 species of birds.

A spokesman for the developer, the National Service Resort Country Club, said that its officials will be meeting the Urban Redevelopment Authority and the National Parks Board to discuss the concerns raised by the Nature Society of Singapore (NSS), which wants the 18-hole course pushed inland from the Kranji reservoir waterline.

The NSS wants this done to protect the marshes - precious feeding grounds for herons and other birds.

The society went public with its concerns last month after initial plans to work with the country club did not materialise.

NSS conservation committee chairman Ho Hua Chew said that an area of the woods and marshy ground, measuring about 250 m by 250 m, had been cleared of vegetation recently, and he feared that work would start soon, before a compromise could be found.

A spokesman for the country club this week said that no building works have started as no tender has been awarded yet for construction, and the discussions with the authorities would take place soon.

The decision to build the course was announced a year ago. The design of the 18-hole course was to be environmentally-friendly, and would also integrate with the existing landscape.

A month later, the developer announced that it had returned eight of the 72 ha of land it was granted for the course to lessen the impact on this long-time habitat for more than 90 species of bird.

But after a study of the area and the bird life there, the NSS said it wanted the developer and planning authorities to consider moving the course 200 m inland from the Kranji reservoir waterline, to protect the marshes.

Two other areas bordering the course have also been identified as being valuable bird habitats. The society wants these sites to be integrated into the design of the golf course, so the plots' vegetation does not have to be cleared or the ponds filled in.