A Place For Residents - And Birds And Trees

Source : The Straits Times, Feb 27, 2008

Part of Sungei Ulu Pandan woodland to be cleared for flats, but nature lovers’ concerns also heeded.

THEY wanted to save the birds and the trees.

The Housing Board needed the area to build five new blocks of flats to replace old ones.

The 1,330 people who signed a petition to save the flora and fauna in the Sungei Ulu Pandan woodland did not get their way.

A part of the area will be cleared, with work having begun last month.

But the HDB , heeding the views of nature lovers, has promised a ‘green buffer” of about 30 trees in a 30m strip separating the proposed residential area from the woodland.

It has also pledged to clear the area in stages so that birds and other animals can migrate to adjacent wooded areas.

The petitioners, ranging from students and retirees to architects and scientists, wrote to the Prime Minister earlier this month. They said they ‘truly value the presence and continued existence of this little remaining woodland’, and that its destruction would ‘be a great loss to our community and the nation’.

The construction will uproot around 150 trees in the 3.7ha stretch, which is tucked away next to Commonwealth Avenue West. There, some trees are almost 40 years old.

And a study of the area by The Nature Society last year uncovered many bird species, including a pair of endangered changeable hawk eagles, which call the woodland home.

But the area is also needed for Ghim Moh residents affected by the Selective En-Bloc Redevelopment Scheme (Sers).

The HDB had announced plans in 2006 for new two- to five-room flats for almost 1,000 households, to replace blocks in the area that were over 30 years old. Construction is slated for completion in 2011.

A check with the HDB revealed that it had no other suitable sites for the project.

Dr Kennedy Chew, an IT researcher who helped to coordinate the petition, conceded that new flats were needed.

‘But we are hoping that the Government will consider moving the development somewhere else nearby instead,’ added Dr Chew, a long-time resident of the area.

Dr Ho Hua Chew, who chairs the Nature Society’s conservation committee, said: ‘The woodland provides a home for birds that have otherwise been displaced in this urban jungle.’ There are only about five known changeable hawk eagle nesting sites in Singapore, he added.

But Mr Christopher de Souza, an MP for the Holland-Bukit Timah GRC and the area’s custodian, said the development was a much-needed one for the Ghim Moh precinct and one that many residents were looking forward to.

The site had been chosen, he said, as it was near the blocks that are to be demolished under Sers.

Nearly four in 10 of the area’s affected residents are elderly people who have lived there for decades. They want to continue residing among friends and family.

The HDB , responding to queries, said the eagles’ nest was not within the site, and it is working with the National Parks Board to ensure the nest’s well-being.

Said Mr de Souza: ‘We hope to achieve the best of both worlds.’