HDB and URA's reply, 22 Mar 2014

Comprehensive HDB town planning

We thank Ms Catherine Soh for her letter ("Plan for malls, food centres in estates"; Sunday).

For the residents' daily convenience, commercial and other facilities in HDB towns are planned comprehensively from the onset and developed progressively as towns grow.

In Pasir Ris, there are two shopping centres - White Sands and Downtown East. When the ongoing redevelopment of Downtown East is completed, it will offer residents an even wider variety of shopping and dining options.

The town also has four neighbourhood centres - Loyang Point, Elias Mall, Pasir Ris West Plaza and the Neighbourhood 4 Neighbourhood Centre - that bring facilities even closer to residents.

Over the next few years, there will be more food options with a new hawker centre at the Pasir Ris Town Park next to the sports complex. A new commercial development is also being planned within the Pasir Ris Town Centre.

Similarly, for Tampines North, residents can look forward to a new commercial hub integrated with the bus interchange. There will also be two major parks and other facilities like shops, supermarkets, eating houses and community facilities such as childcare centres.

Over at Punggol Town Centre, a new shopping centre, Waterway Point, is under construction and we are planning for a new community hub that will be integrated with a hawker centre.

Sengkang will also see new commercial facilities with the upcoming Seletar Mall next to Fernvale LRT station.

We will continue to work together to ensure that our towns have well-placed, comprehensive amenities to provide a good-quality living environment for our residents.

Chong Fook Loong
Director (Urban Design Department 1)
Housing & Development Board

Mark Goh
Director (Physical Planning, North East)
Urban Redevelopment Authority

Letter, 16 Mar 2014, The Straits Times

Plan for malls, food centres in estates

I  applaud  the  Ministry  of  National Development  for  doing  an  excellent  job  in  solving  our  housing woes,   by   building   flats   and   executive   condominiums   (ECs),   and   releasing   land   for   private condominium development.

However,  newly  developed  residential  estates  such  as  Sengkang  and  Punggol  lack  commercial infrastructure such as shopping malls and hawker centres.

I am living in Pasir Ris, where new flats, ECs and private condominiums are being built at break-neck speed. The population in my estate will probably double or even triple in five years' time.

With the fast-growing population in this area and the building of new HDB flats in Tampines North, the existing White Sands shopping mall will be unable to cater to the needs of residents.

I hope the ministry can look into not only meeting the housing needs of residents, but also planning for commercial infrastructure in increasingly populated areas.

Catherine Soh (Ms)