Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis (Sengkang): The Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA’s) long-term plan review highlights the Government’s strategy of building inclusive and close-knit towns by improving connectivity and injecting amenities within neighbourhoods and close to homes. Unlike older HDB estates or new BTO estates for certain neighbourhoods, all precincts within Sengkang are currently underserved when it comes to the lack of coffee shops and everyday conveniences in the immediate neighbourhood.
Hence, the Sengkang team has been actively exploring opportunities to bring greater F&B and commercial conveniences to our residents. For example, we studied the possibility of converting under-utilised spaces, such as unused multi-storey carparks, although I understand that technical limitations have rendered some of these proposals unfeasible.
During the 2023 COS debate, in response to my call for the MND to address the lack of amenities within Sengkang, Senior Minister of State Sim Ann noted that URA and the relevant agencies are currently reviewing plans to further develop the Sengkang Town Centre. Therefore, would the MND be able to provide a status update to these plans?
Moreover, with the recent decommissioning of Compassvale Bus Interchange, the site could be used to develop amenities, such as an integrated community development. The empty plot of land next to Compass One could also be better utilised for a permanent building, rather than merely for the occasional “pasar malam” in the interest of maximising land use while rejuvenating the wider Sengkang neighbourhood.
Specifically for hawker centres, the NEA today manages 121 markets and hawker centres, and after decades of waiting, residents at Buangkok and Anchorvale can finally have their own hawker centre.
I understand from the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment COS earlier that there will be five more hawker centres planned in the future. There is strong justification for another hawker centre to serve the needs of residents in the central and eastern regions of Sengkang, especially when the opportunity presents itself today, and especially when we consider that this is not just about the standalone hawker centre, but potentially an integrated development that will enable us to better maximise and achieve the highest and best use for the centrally located plots of land there.
On improving connectivity, BTO developments, such as Rivervale Shores, include flats targeted at both seniors and families with young children. Hence, the HDB should proactively work with the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to ensure that the surrounding infrastructure should be made barrier free, and also by retrofitting nearby overhead bridges with lifts ahead of the project’s Temporary Occupation Permit (TOP).
While there is unlikely to be many more new BTO estates in Sengkang, given limited areas for development, for the benefit of future residents of future BTO estates across Singapore, I hope that this can be included as part of tender requirements for contractors engaged by the HDB for new BTO projects.
Ministry of National Development
4 March 2025
https://sprs.parl.gov.sg/search/#/sprs3topic?reportid=budget-2597
Office of the Leader of the Opposition 