Panel set up to help Singapore developers incorporate waterways into projects

Panel set up to help Singapore developers incorporate waterways into projects

By Hasnita A Majid,

SINGAPORE: Singapore’s water agency, PUB, has formed an ABC Waters Review Panel to help developers incorporate water bodies into their projects.

It was set up late last year together with the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and the Law Ministry. The panel also has several high-profile local architects as members.

Environment and Water Resources Minister, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, revealed this at the launch of the S$2.5 million Kolam Ayer ABC Waterfront pilot project – under PUB’s Active, Beautiful and Clean (ABC) Waters programme – on Saturday.

Dr Yaacob said: “The idea is very simple. At the end of the day, when developers develop their projects, I’m sure there must be ways in which they can integrate waterways in their design. Previously, that integration had not occurred. They saw it as a setback to have to fulfil a PUB requirement, but now we are telling them that there are ways in which that can be integrated.

“The panel will help to advise the developers on what they can do to integrate the waterways. With the enhancement, that could be a selling point. We want to explore the possibilities.”

PUB will also produce a set of ABC Waters Design Guidelines to provide design ideas and technical support for professionals.

Developers who incorporate water features into projects already have a fast-track process to tap on the ‘green lane’. Since it was introduced in 2006, 15 proposals have been submitted via this channel.

On the Kolam Ayer facelift project, Dr Yaacob said even though the physical infrastructure has been completed, the important factor now is the involvement of the community to take ownership and ensure the area remains clean and vibrant.

He said: “For the place to come alive, we need residents to take ownership. I’ll be very happy if we can demonstrate this as a viable and sustainable project over the long term.”

Chiang Heng Liang, Chairman of the ABC Waters Project Community Workshop, said: “It’s up to the community, the people, the grassroots, residents, interest groups and all these people coming together to organise gatherings and meaningful activities… to interact and mingle.”

Four groups have already expressed interest in helping to inject vibrancy into the area. They include Bendemeer primary and secondary schools which have adopted sections of the river to conduct river patrols and organise river clean-ups.

For a particular family, the completion of the waterfront project is worth waiting for.

Ismail Yacob, a Kolam Ayer resident, said: “It enhances the quality of life and, at the same time, beautifies our estate.”

His wife, Nurashikin I Cheong, said: “Maybe during school holidays, we can come here to barbeque.”

With this development completed, residents can look forward to more activities by the waterfront such as yoga and a Sunday flea market.

Subsequent facelifts under PUB’s ABC Waters programme will be conducted at Bedok and MacRitchie reservoirs.
- CNA/so
Source : Channel NewsAsia  - 06 April 2008

Singapore Property - Buy , Sell , Rent , Invest

Mindy Yong

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mindy@mindyyong.com

It’s Monday morning blues with 5 Singapore new ERP gantries

It’s Monday morning blues with 5 Singapore new ERP gantries 

Residents gripe about having to live with a gantry; shopkeepers fear business will be hit

By Tan Dawn Wei 
BAD NEWS FOR HIM

Mr Chan Ah Leh, owner of a dried goods sotre at the Toa Payoh Lorong 8 wet market, fears sales will be affected with the ERP kicking in between 8am and 9am, when business is brisk.

It will be a Monday with an extra helping of blues tomorrow when five new Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) gantries get up and running.
Residents and shopkeepers in Geylang Bahru, Kallang Bahru, Upper Boon Keng Road, Upper Bukit Timah Road and Toa Payoh Lorong 6 are griping about having to live with a gantry on their doorstep. The five gantries will be turned on for either half an hour or an hour each morning - from 8am to 8.30am or 9am.

But most plan to pay the price - $1 in the mornings - for now.

Most of the 250 residents and shopkeepers The Sunday Times spoke to in the five residential areas say they will take a wait-and-see approach.

Only one-fifth plan to change their routine, like leaving home at a different time, finding an alternative route or switching to public transport.

But a check by The Sunday Times reveals only one ‘escape’ route in Bukit Timah which requires a lengthy detour. Property agency ERA Realty, which is located in Toa Payoh Lorong 5, has found a way to cope with the ERP: by letting employees report for work 15 minutes later, at 9.15am.

Sorry, There’s really no escape
Leave home earlier or later, or switch to public transport.

That is what the transport authorities want commuters to do with the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system.

‘It’s a win-win situation,’ said its president, Mr Jack Chua, 48. ‘If you’re good to the staff, they will be good to the company. Besides, 15 minutes will not make a big difference to productivity.’

But those who need to get to work at the usual time say they are left with little choice.

‘Giving up the car is not an option. Upper Bukit Timah is quite secluded and there aren’t many public transport options,’ said Ms Angela Chng, 26, a public relations executive who lives in Hume Avenue and works in Tanjong Pagar.

Some, like Mr Erh Kah Heng, 30, are unwilling to break an old habit.

‘I’ve been driving for five to six years. It’s hard to go back to taking the bus or MRT,’ said the manager who lives in Bukit Timah and works in Orchard.

ERP, introduced in 1998, aims to control congestion by charging drivers for the use of busy roads and getting them to use public transport.

Despite the chorus of complaints, most concede that the rates and duration of the ERP in the five new areas aren’t too hard to swallow.

‘I was worried at first but after I found out that it was only for half an hour in the morning, I felt more relieved,’ said Mr Chua Soon Tin, 39, a salesman and resident of Upper Boon Keng Road. He escapes paying ERP charges because he drives to work in Woodlands at 7.45am every day.

The announcement of the new ERP gantries was made in January. The Land Transport Authority had initially planned to charge for a longer time - from 7.30am to 9.30am - but changed its mind after reviewing traffic conditions on the affected roads and ‘assessed that charging is needed for a shorter time’, said a spokesman.

Still, that is no consolation for provision shop owner Tay Wee Teck, 50, in Geylang Bahru.

‘With so many gantries in the same area, it feels like a cage. My business is affected because many people don’t want to come here any more if they have to pay just to get here,’ he said.

He plans to start his day later, opening his shop at 9am instead of 8am.

Three of the five gantries - in Geylang Bahru, Kallang Bahru and Upper Boon Keng Road - are in close proximity to one another and serve as an outer cordon around the city.

Hawkers at a wet market in Toa Payoh Lorong 8 - which will now fall within the road-pricing zone - feel that the ERP will spell reduced business.

The wet market’s busiest period is between 8am and 10am. With the new ERP kicking in between 8am and 9am, customers from neighbouring estates will not shop there any more, they said.

‘People will stop coming if they have to pay when they enter this area, especially now with prices of essential goods going up,’ said Mr Chan Ah Leh, 60, owner of a dried goods store at the market.

He, like his fellow hawkers, are adopting a wait-and-see attitude before making any changes to their businesses.

But not all are feeling gloomy about the new gantries.

Some residents welcome the new additions, saying they will ease the choked streets in their neighbourhood.

Said Toa Payoh resident K.A.W. Haja, 55, a manager: ‘I’m happy because Toa Payoh will now be clear.’
Additional reporting by Chen Meiyue, Aw Cheng Wei and Alex Liam

Source : Straits Times - 06 April 2008

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Mindy Yong

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7 signs of a Singapore property slowdown

7 signs of a Singapore property slowdown 

Buyers seem to be gaining ground again in the private homes market but consultants say it’s far from crashing yet

By Joyce Teo, Property Correspondent 
After rocketing to dizzying heights last year, the private homes market has stalled because of the global credit crunch - an external factor that took the market by surprise.
The withdrawal of the deferred payment scheme last year has also dampened demand somewhat.

Sales volumes and interest have fizzled out just as quickly as the market surged last year.

While many players hang on to the notion that strong fundamentals - low interest rates, for instance - will support the market, sentiment has fast melted away.

Is the property market slowing to a crawl? We examine the mounting evidence.
1 Growth in home prices weakens

The Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA’s) early estimate of first-quarter data showed a 4.2 per cent rise in private home prices against 6.8 per cent in the previous quarter and 31 per cent last year.

Consultants expect price growth to weaken. Prices, especially for high-end homes, might fall but not significantly as sellers are still reluctant to accept lower prices, said a seasoned property agent. ‘There’s no urgency to do so.’
2 Launches are held back

Developers have ample properties to sell but most continue to hold back launches. Some small ones have gone ahead but the response has been unimpressive.

With buyers and sellers choosing to remain on the sidelines as the global impact of a slowing United States economy remains uncertain, the market is largely quiet.

URA data showed that only 185 new private homes were sold in February, down from 328 in January. Last year, developers sold 14,811 new homes.
3 Collective sales have died down

This market is dead, for now at least, as developers stay away and new rules make it tougher for owners to sell en bloc.

So far this year, only one sale has been done compared with 26 in the first quarter of last year.

And one potential sale - that of Makeway View in Newton - was cancelled after the buyer, Bravo Building Construction, said it had found out that it would have to pay a higher-than-expected development charge.

Owners of some estates are starting to lower their price expectations.

Pinetree Condominium in Balmoral Park, for instance, was recently relaunched at a lower indicative price of $128 million - down from around $145 million last September, but still well above the 2006 price tag of $59 million.
4 Investor funds pull out or hold off

Islamic investment bank Kuwait Finance House, which agreed last December to buy 97 Goodwood Residence units for $818.4 million from GuocoLand, allowed the purchase option to lapse.

Both parties said last month that they were still in talks but did not provide clear reasons for the pullout. Industry sources had speculated that the fund’s price - a record for the condo’s area - was too high.

A recent DTZ Research report said some funds are holding off making investments, at least for the first half of this year, until the extent of the US slowdown and its global impact become clearer.
5 Sellers hand out discounts galore

In the resale market, sellers are getting more flexible. There are more desperate sellers in the market this year, property agents said.

Some want to sell one or two of their properties because they had bought some units under the deferred payment scheme, and payment is due in six months to a year, one agent said.

For new launches or sales of new units, some developers are also willing to give discounts when asked, while others offer stamp duty rebates to attract buyers.
6 Agents less sought after, ads dwindle

Property agents have more free time and are taking out fewer advertisements because of the poor response.

Last year, a seller’s unit could be marketed by five to six agents, with the deal going to the agent who garnered the best price.

But this year, a seller might go with one agent, said HSR Property Group’s executive director, Mr Eric Cheng.

On average, an ad for a reasonably priced unit could attract 12 to 15 calls last year. That is now down by half, he said. Prime, high-end homes have it worse, he added, noting that there could be no calls at all for some ads.

‘I have not been advertising since Nov 15 because I could see sales volume falling,’ said agent Andrew Soh.
7 Buyers toss in low bids to test the waters

Some developers have offered rather low bids in recent land tenders, which signals a slowing property market.

The Government in mid-March decided not to award a landed housing site in Jurong West as the bids were too low.

Then, the lowest bid for a Yishun condo site came in at just $95 per sq ft of potential gross floor area.

‘The developers are pricing in the risks of falling prices,’ said Knight Frank’s director for consultancy and research, Mr Nicholas Mak.

‘Given thin volume, they could also be hoping that there is no competition.’

Going forward, optimistic players are waiting for the market to regain some of its former glory in the next six months.

The pessimistic ones are prepared to ride out the whole year and possibly the next.

‘If volume remains thin, there is a chance that private home prices might weaken this year, but the market is not expected to crash,’ said Mr Mak.
 
Source : Straits Times - 06 April 2008

Singapore Property - Buy , Sell , Rent , Invest

Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com