More Green Spaces to Be Retained in Gillman Barracks and Maju Forest After Public Feedback

Minister of State for National Development Alvin Tan told reporters on Aug 14 that both Gillman Barracks and Maju Forest will retain more green spaces than originally planned, following strong public feedback during a consultation exercise that closed on Aug 6.

“With the changes, we will have even more greenery in both areas than originally planned. We will work out exactly how much more, but we will have to accept that this means we can build fewer homes on both sites for fellow Singaporeans,” Tan said.

He added that the current plan was never final and that authorities will continue to engage Singaporeans, aiming to finalise the plans over the coming month.

Initial plans for the sites retained 40 per cent of green spaces in Gillman Barracks and 35 per cent in Maju Forest. These plans were developed with the involvement of nature groups.

Under those initial plans, about two-thirds of the 23-hectare Maju Forest along Sunset Way was proposed for public housing, with the remaining areas retained as wildlife refuges and ecological corridors.

Gillman Barracks, a former military site with heritage buildings off Alexandra Road, and part of the forest nearby had been proposed for a 40-hectare mixed-use residential neighbourhood with public and private housing. About 8 hectares of the site had been earmarked for green areas, down from the current approximately 20 hectares.

For Gillman Barracks, nature groups asked for a wider central green corridor for better connectivity to other green spaces such as Telok Blangah Hill Park, Labrador Nature Reserve and HortPark. Lester Tan of the Nature Society Singapore’s conservation committee said the 30-metre-wide ecological corridors initially proposed could squeeze species that once had a large space to roam into a small corridor.

For Maju Forest, groups asked that the green corridor be widened to create a more continuous vegetated area for animals to forage. Nearby residents and the general public also asked for more greenery to be retained.

Nature Society Singapore president Leong Kwok Peng said he hoped authorities would retain two-thirds of Maju Forest, up from the current plan of one-third. He suggested the freshwater stream in the northern part of the forest could be merged with green spaces in the south for a bigger forest, though he acknowledged even that could impact biodiversity negatively.

Residents living near both sites welcomed the changes. Sunset Way resident Carmen Tang, 50, said she was glad more of Maju Forest would be retained. “Clementi is already quite densely populated, so it’s good to have more nature around,” she said, adding that she moved there 10 years ago for the nature and quiet environment.

Another resident, Low Guo Xiang, 43, said the area was windy and cooler thanks to the forest. “I was worried that these things, that we take for granted, would be gone,” said the software engineer. “It would be better if the whole forest is kept, but retaining more is better than nothing.”

Telok Blangah resident Jessica Boon, 39, hoped more of the Gillman Barracks forest could be retained, noting that the site of the former Keppel Club had already made way for the upcoming Berlayar estate.

A total of 19 MPs had raised questions in Parliament about a range of issues, including balancing housing needs with environmental preservation, the effectiveness of public feedback and the transparency of the planning process.

Tan told Parliament earlier in August that plans for the sites have not been finalised, but these areas need to be developed to meet Singapore’s housing needs over the next decade. Leong of the Nature Society said the outpouring of sentiment for Maju Forest shocked him, adding that it was “quite heartening” to see youth and MPs actively engaging residents on the issue.

The trade-off is clear: retaining more greenery at both sites will reduce the number of homes that can be built there. For property buyers, this could tighten future public and private housing supply in the Alexandra-Sunset Way corridor.