AUG 31, 2002

Where the road crosses a wooden bridge is a meandering stream flanked by thick vegetation. Residents and regulars say the area is great for bird-watching and fishing.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority wants to capitalise on the natural charm of this area.

In its recently unveiled Identity Plan, it offers ideas such as turning the area into a public park, complete with new-age businesses like spas and yoga studios. Pathways may also be built along the stream to lead up to Upper Seletar Reservoir.

Residents and regulars to the area are divided over the plan, with some welcoming the proposals and others preferring the area to be left just as it is.

National serviceman Zheng Lin, 19, prefers the place to be left untouched. He lives in the Springleaf estate and goes jogging often in the wooded area.

He said: 'You can probably see more nature here than in Sungei Buloh. There are kingfishers and toads. You can also find the kind of snails that some people eat as escargots.'

Birds spotted in the area include woodpeckers and even the globally endangered straw-headed bubul.

'It's nice and natural like that. Turning it into a public park will spoil the atmosphere.'

He pointed out that it is rare to find a stream here with banks that are not tiled up, and hopes it will stay this way.

Mr A.S. Ang, 40, who paints cars, agrees.

He said: 'The point is to keep it natural. Better save the money and use it somewhere else. Preserve it as a nature reserve.'

But retiree T.C. Siow has other ideas.

He said: 'It would be very nice if proper tracks could be put in for us to jog all the way up to Lentor Avenue.'

This way, more people can also use the park, pointed out a contract worker who wanted to be known only as Mr Tay.

'There are snakes in there; it's not very safe to just walk through now. If tracks are put in and some of the vegetation is cleared, it'll be safer for more people to go in,' said the 45-year-old.

The Springleaf Neighbourhood Committee has some ideas to offer. It hopes the authorities will take the plans a bit further and run trails not just to the Upper Seletar Reservoir but beyond, to the coastal Khatib Bongsu area.

The chairman of the committee, Mr Poh Phien Seah, said: 'There could be cycling trails, or running trails, with some pavilions where people can rest.'

The committee also wants to turn the backyard of the estate's clubhouse into a campsite for youths, turn the former Mandai Post Office into a shopping mall, and allow canoes on Sungei Seletar.

They welcomed suggestions to introduce yoga studios and artists' lodges in the park as these 'will blend in very well with the environment'.

But Mr Poh stressed: 'All these will have to be fitted in carefully. Don't chop down the trees. We have yellow parrots here in the day and owls at night. It would be a shame if they lost their homes.'

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