JUL 26, 2002

MORE than 2,000 people have streamed into the URA Centre or gone online to check out two plans unveiled by the Urban Redevelopment Authority to add more greenery to Singapore and to preserve certain neighbourhoods.

The exhibition at the authority's Maxwell Road headquarters opened on Tuesday evening and, since then, crowds have turned up, mostly around lunch time, to look at the Parks and Waterbodies, and Identity plans.

Both plans contain ideas that are set to change Singapore's landscape significantly over the next 15 years.

The Parks and Waterbodies Plan aims to add more greenery to every corner of Singapore, while the Identity Plan sets out ideas to preserve and enhance 15 quaint neighbourhoods and familiar haunts.

The URA has said that the plans are not cast in stone, and wants to get Singaporeans involved.

And the feedback has been rolling in.

Some Singaporeans have suggested other neighbourhoods to preserve: Tiong Bahru, Jalan Kayu, Owen Road and MacPherson are among those suggested.

A dozen people interviewed at the exhibition yesterday said they were impressed with what the planners had come up with.

Their feedback also indicates the kind of issues that will come up as Singaporeans discuss the plans in depth in the coming months.

Mr Mark Lim, 48, a bank executive who lives in the Balestier area, said he is pleased with the plans, but added: 'I hope the Government will help shopkeepers to conserve the buildings.

'If the shopkeepers are left to fork out money for it, they might not be able to do so and we'll see many of them moving out.'

Another visitor, Mr K.C. Young, a middle-aged manager, said that a separate blueprint should be drafted for developing a sense of identity in Housing Board estates.

'Otherwise, they will all look the same, like they do now,' he said.

The Nature Society of Singapore also has some ideas about the plans.

Dr Ho Hua Chew, who chairs its conservation committee, applauded the proposal to open two new nature parks next to Sungei Buloh Reserve, but is worried that the planned hiking trails running close to the Kranji Reservoir coast will disturb the feeding patterns of many bird colonies there.

'The area is very important because it's where birds congregate to feed. Having trails there would really affect their feeding patterns. I hope they will reconsider that,' he said.

He added that areas rich in nature, such as Khatib Bongsu near Yishun, should be included in the plan.

Said Dr Geh Min, the society's chairman: 'We understand the problem that the Government faces. It not only has to look after nature, but also the public.

'We have to find the right balance between the two.'

Copyright © 2002 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.