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Straits Times 27 Sep 05 Bukit Timah reserve to get new nature park By Goh Chin Lian A NEW nature park the size of 58 football fields is being planned on the western fringe of the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, in an attempt to relieve congestion at the popular recreation spot. The park, accessible via Bukit Timah Expressway and Dairy Farm Road, will feature new hiking and mountain biking trails and possibly regulated rock climbing at the Dairy Farm Quarry, currently Singapore's only natural climbing site. In a document requesting information from consultants, the National Parks Board said that the aim was to 'divert large organised school groups or organisations from the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve'. 'This would help relieve the traffic congestion during peak period caused by coaches entering the reserve.' NParks also hopes to attract adventure groups, rock climbers, mountain bikers and new visitors from the nearby Hillview, Dairy Farm and Bukit Panjang estates. The 63ha site, earmarked under the Urban Redevelopment Authority's Parks and Waterbodies Plan, would also act as a green buffer for Bukit Timah Reserve's primary forest. A third of the site is currently taken up by two former granite quarries - the Dairy Farm Quarry and the Singapore Quarry - that have since been filled. Work is expected to start within the next six months and be completed by early 2007, at an estimated cost of $2.8 million. At this stage, however, NParks has only preliminary concepts for the park, a spokesman told The Straits Times. She said: 'We will be assessing the feasibility and practicality of these ideas together with our consultants.' The plan, as it stands at the moment, will see existing mountain bike trails redirected to the boundaries of the park, away from the hiking trails. The biking trails will link with the existing ones in the nature reserve. A floating pontoon and a lookout shelter could be constructed at the Singapore Quarry, which fronts a pond. NParks also indicated the possibility of working with groups such as the Singapore Mountaineering Federation to 'help manage and regulate rock-climbing activities' and hold courses at the Dairy Farm Quarry. About 20 to 30 climbers use the quarry on weekends, said Mr Wilfred Tok, a member of the federation's executive committee. He said the federation is keen on educating climbers about the need for proper training and equipment, and about the risks at the quarry, where there are some unstable rocks. Two climbers are known to have been killed at the site, one in 2003 and the other, this year. The plans also call for the conversion of a bungalow into a ranger station and volunteers' lounge, and the transformation of an old warehouse into classrooms and a centre showcasing the heritage of the area. In the 1830s, the area was a gambier (a tropical vine used for tanning and dyeing) plantation. In the 1930s, it contained a dairy farm, producing milk. Dr Ho Hua Chew, chairman of the Nature Society's conservation committee, said that it was a good move to use the park to siphon some visitors away from the nature reserve, where it is already hard to find a parking lot 'as early as 5am on a Sunday'. But he said he would rather have the nature areas in the western part of Singapore, much of which is cordoned off for military training, opened up to the public. LEAVE IT THE WAY IT IS: "It's more natural that way, and more serene. People can just sit by the pond." - DR HO HUA CHEW, chairman of the Nature Society's conservation committee, feels the Singapore Quarry should be left as it is, without any new structures or water activities. links Related articles on Singapore: Recreation in our wild places |
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