Greenies, golfers in tiff over Kranji course

Cooperation talks on the impact of Safra's 18-hole golf course on the environment fail to take off

By Dominic Nathan
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

IT WAS to have been a new start in cooperation between the greenies and the golfers, with the Nature Society of Singapore (NSS) working with Safra on an environmental study for the latter's new 18-hole course in Kranji. But the cooperation never materialised, the NSS now claims.

Two meetings and several e-mail messages later, the society said its request for copies of the course design and an environmental study of the area was rejected.

They first asked for both last December, said the NSS conservation committee chairman, Dr Ho Hua Chew.

'To date, we are still in the dark about the design plan for the project and the mitigation measures that are to be implemented to avert any serious impact on the marshland habitat and its wildlife, in particular the birdlife,' he said yesterday.

So, his group has opted to go public with its feedback on the planned course, after conducting its own survey of the birdlife in the area, between last December and January this year.

It wants the developer and planning authorities to consider moving the course 200 m inland from the Kranji reservoir waterline, to protect the marshes - valuable feeding grounds for herons and other birds. This, despite Safra returning to the Government, on its own accord, eight of the 72 ha it was given for the course, to create a buffer.

Dr Ho said: 'Our survey shows the 8 ha won't be enough, so we hope the authorities will consider giving Safra more land further inland if necessary.'

Two other areas bordering the course have also been identified as being valuable to the more than 90 species of birds living in the marshland.

The society wants Safra to integrate these two smaller sites into the design of the golf course, so the plots' vegetation does not have to be cleared or the ponds filled in.

Aside from conservation proposals, the 15-page report also contains suggestions to reduce the impact on the vegetation and wildlife during the construction and operation of the course.

It said: 'The proposals formulated are important not only for the protection of the uncommon, rare or threatened species of birdlife, but also for the general protection of a fast diminishing habitat.'

A spokesman for the National Service Resort Country Club, which will manage the course, said it had no comment on the NSS allegations or report at this time.

Conservationists said they hope the breakdown in talks will not be a major setback to opening dialogue on green issues.