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  Today Online 31 Mar 06
Building a sense of ownership
Why didn't NParks engage the public from concept stages of East Coast Park upgrading? Letter from LIM Chi-Sharn

Today Online 6 Dec 05
Feedback considered for park's face-lift
Reply from NParks

Straits Times Forum Online 6 Dec 05
Plan to ease congestion, make park accessible
Reply from NParks

Today Online 28 Nov 05
No need for East Coast makeover

Today Online 26 Nov 05
I love it just the way it is
We need more green spaces, so don't clutter up East Coast Park
Letter from Murali Sharma

Straits Times Forum Online 25 Nov 05
More 'attractions'? No, keep East Coast Park as a park
Letter from Wolfgang Kramer

Straits Times Forum Online 21 Nov 05
Don't turn East Coast Park into a theme park. Keep it as a green belt
Letter from Colin Yeo

Straits Times Forum Online 21Nov 05
Don't make ECP an entertainment centre
Letter from Wong Wai Han (Miss)

I READ, with dismay, the article '$160 million plan to transform East Coast Park' (ST, Nov 17).

Apparently, the park is scheduled to undergo another major upgrade.

I have lived in the east all my life and we 'Easties' pride ourselves on one of the most beautiful parks in Singapore, with the added bonus of a beach. East Coast Park (ECP) holds some of my fondest memories. We had class barbecues, cycling trips that ended with a meal at McDonald's and school annual cross-country races there. ECP is also a favourite (and convenient) haunt for teenage courting couples, joggers, in-line skating enthusiasts and anyone who wants a bit of sea breeze and serenity.

But now the National Parks Board wants to turn it into yet another public attraction, 'a place of interest' in Singapore.

As everyone knows, places of interest have a major drawback - the thronging crowd. Since the renovation of Marine Cove, the crowd has come back.

I avoid ECP on weekends and public holidays now because the crowd is simply overwhelming, not to say dangerous. Recently while in-line skating at ECP, I witnessed a collision between two cyclists. They were not hurt but a boy one of them swerved into was. And now there is a suggestion to include buses and trams in the park.

I have nothing against improving the park facilities. Levelling the cycling paths and opening more eateries is a good move. Plans to improve the underpasses and the new overhead bridge are appreciated. NParks should also increase the number of toilets and bathing facilities at Marine Cove. There is only one public toilet and it is poorly maintained, even though it is a paid facility.

But do we really need a visitor centre, flea market or even a ski park?

After all, a park is for users to unwind in peaceful surroundings of open-air greenery. And the price of 'over-upgrading' is an increase in human traffic. It is hard enough to find a quiet spot in land-scarce Singapore.

Let's preserve ECP as a park and not turn it into another entertainment centre.

Wong Wai Han (Miss)

Straits Times Forum Online 21 Nov 05
Don't turn East Coast Park into a theme park. Keep it as a green belt
Letter from Colin Yeo

I read with interest the article '$160 million plan to transform East Coast Park' (ST Nov 18).

I applaud the decision to add more underground carparks and have landscaping such as the bougainvilla garden etc. However, I am concerned about adding vehicles, buggies, and buses to improve accessibility in the park.

I understand that nothing is cast in stone yet so I've decided to suggest my ideas to make the park a better place for all.

East Coast Park is designed to provide a venue for cycling, picnics, swimming etc. Due to its popularity, it is very crowded on weekends and public holidays despite its huge size.

Adding more vehicles to the park will create problems. They add vehicular traffic to an already busy place and this could cause more accidents. This is especially so in a place where many young children and elderly citizens gather with their families, where they can also let their hair down as they enjoy their free time in the park.

Allowing vehicles into the park would also make it less fun because the place will be filled with exhaust fumes like in the city, where the people have already spent much of the week working.

What's the point of going to a park to breathe in such fumes in the supposed 'lungs of the city'?

Yes, we certainly cannot forget the fun factor a park can provide.

I wouldn't be surprised too that park users will complain of long traffic lines, inconvenient bus stops etc should vehicular transport be allowed. I empathise with the older folks and people with physical disability who may find movements in the park daunting because of the distance.

However, I'm sure the greater obstacle to accessibility is the design rather than the physical distance itself. After all, in their daily lives they need to travel a fair distance anyway.

I'm sure if you ask them, it's the curbs, steps and uneven surfaces that pose a problem to their day-to-day movements. I know this because I've helped my wheelchair-bound friend to travel within the city and have worked with occupational therapists in the hospital to help make their home environment more wheelchair-friendly.

Hence, while upgrading the park the NParks may like to look at designs to make the place more wheelchair-friendly, if necessary.

Physical distance is less of a problem because after all they have come to the park to have an easy time. They certainly didn't come to have a guided tour of the park. It is unusual for park users to regularly traverse the whole expanse of the park on foot or wheelchair. For those who are physically fit and yet want a vehicle to move within it, I think this defeats the purpose of the park.

A park is a green space in the city for us all to enjoy the greenery and empty space. Take the opportunity to exercise. Walking is a good form of aerobic exercise friendly to the knees. Walk the dog too. If the park user isn't keen to move around too much, find a favourite spot to relax and rest.

Until I read of further plans to upgrade the park, I strongly urge the NParks to gather public opinion and seriously consider the various proposals.

Let's not make East Coast Park a theme park. Keep it as a nice green belt for all to enjoy it.

Colin Yeo

Straits Times Forum Online 25 Nov 05
More 'attractions'? No, keep East Coast Park as a park
Letter from Wolfgang Kramer

I REFER to the article, '$160 million plan to transform East Coast Park' (ST, Nov 17), and to Miss Wong Wai Han's letter, 'Don't make ECP an entertainment centre' (ST, Nov 21).

I couldn't agree more with Miss Wong's assessment of the $160 million transformation plan for the East Coast Park (ECP).

Although, unlike Miss Wong, I don't have fond childhood memories of visits to the ECP, I was just as shocked about the slew of upgrading works proposed by the National Parks Board (NParks.)

I feel very strongly about this park as I have lived in the east for many years and enjoy the ECP almost daily. To many like-minded residents, this park has become a pleasant counterbalance to the hectic life in an urban jungle.

Though NParks proposed many laudable upgrading programmes, such as overhead garden bridges, making underpasses more pleasant, and moving carparks underground, I disagree with the need for more 'attractions', a visitor centre (for what?) and particularly the need for a transportation system.

It would appear that NParks staff have not visited the ECP on a weekend. It is overcrowded already! A regular at the park, I have seen many accidents, most of them involving children, due to the general mayhem on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon or during holidays.

Adding more attractions and a transportation system will only add to the overall chaos that makes the park less and less enjoyable and outright dangerous.

The allure of a park is the greenery, the feeling of 'getting away from it all', and perhaps a bit of tranquillity and peacefulness. Instead, I have a feeling NParks wants to convert the ECP into a full-scale entertainment extravaganza.

Past upgrading of the ECP (barbecue pits, road improvements and extensions, Seafood Centre upgrading, etc.), although necessary, had caused a great deal of inconvenience for many years due to noisy and unsightly construction.

Perhaps some of the money allocated for upgrading would be better spent on cleaning up the beach coves more regularly (the sand beaches are always full of trash) or on a public-awareness campaign against the social ills of litter- ing (anybody who has walked along the ECP on a weekend morning knows what I am talking about.)

If NParks succeeds in attracting even more people to the park, it will start looking more like a 20km-long dump-site rather than a place to relax and unwind.

To reiterate Miss Wong's plea: Let's keep ECP as a park and not convert it into a constant spectacle.

Wolfgang Kramer

Today Online 26 Nov 05
I love it just the way it is
We need more green spaces, so don't clutter up East Coast Park
Letter from Murali Sharma

It was with much alarm that I read about the National Parks Board's (NParks) plans to upgrade East Coast Park.

This is a recreation area near the city and it goes back many decades as a retreat for the harassed.

The new plans may ruin this ecological sanctuary that thousands enjoy each week.

The proposal to introduce new facilities will only exacerbate the crowding and bring in an endless stream of impatient people who cannot stop to enjoy the blessings of nature. It is crowded enough. Let us not pack in more people. Instead of going there to relax, people will end up with more frayed nerves.

The only features that have struck the right note are the ones to build more covered car parks and an overhead garden bridge linking the park with Marine Parade Central.

But we don't need more rides or other Sentosa-type features.

The park should be kept as free as possible from vehicular traffic. NParks itself admits that weekend traffic cannot be accommodated in the existing number of car parking lots. That being the case, it makes sense to build more parking lots. And underground car parks would meet the need without ruining the scenery.

It also makes sense to improve the underpasses to make them brighter, safer, cleaner and easier to locate.

Please, no buses, trams or buggies! As it is, there are run-ins and accidents on the walkways, with fast moving cyclists and skaters jostling for space with pedestrians. Furthermore, more vehicles will only add to pollution problems.

Flea markets can be built in the city so that the park can remain a place for recreation and not be turned into a noisy market place.

What we need is more space, as natural as possible — not more facilities to clutter up the landscape.

This is one place that does not need an upgrade, even if there has been little major work for 30 years.

Today Online 28 Nov 05
No need for East Coast makeover

I fully agree with Murali Sharma's sentiments in his letter, "I love it just the way it is" (Nov 26-27). What is wrong with being 30? East Coast Park does not need a facelift.

Like a woman at 30, East Coast Park and its greenery have reached maturity. Let the park age naturally and gracefully without cosmetic surgery.

In a crowded city with more than 6000 persons per sq km, quiet open spaces and oases of calm greenery are vital to the public's mental health. Quiet open spaces expand the mind to create new worlds. It is in the quiet expansiveness of nature, earth and sky that dreams, hopes and visions of possibilities arise.

Choking the parks with more and more facilities for more and more activities (however well-intended) will constrict the space for dreaming in our city. And cities need dreams to grow.

For the tired and harassed who come to the East Coast Park, there is pleasure in walking down quiet shady paths. There is music in the waves along the empty shore. There is rapture among the trees in this pocket of quiet within our crowded city.

I had always thought that the National Parks Board's core mission is to provide us with places for such quiet pleasures to recharge ourselves for work in the city. Please, NPB, do not be over enthusiastic in building facilities that are likely to increase the volume of shrieks in the park rather than the number of smiles.

I call upon all artists, poets, sculptors, writers, joggers, walkers, strollers, tai chi practitioners, solitude seekers and others who love East Coast Park to write in to NPB or start an online letter to urge the Board to modify its horrendous plan to turn the East Coast Park into a playground for noisy jitterbugs.

Today Online 6 Dec 05
Feedback considered for park's face-lift
Reply from NParks

Letter from Dr Leong Chee Chiew Chief Operating Officer, National Parks Board

WE REFER to the forum letters, "I love it just the way it is" (Nov 26), "No need for East Coast makeover" (Nov 28) and "A pet haven for East Coast Park?" (Dec 5).

Attracting over 7 million visitors a year, East Coast Park is the most popular park in Singapore. Built some 30 years ago, provisions for access, circulation, logistics and facilities need to be looked into in order for the park to serve current and future recreational demands.

The National Parks Board (NParks) conducted a survey of 500 East Coast Park users in March 2004 as a preliminary poll on what they feel needs to be improved in the park.

In the feedback received, attention was drawn to overcrowding, poor access and circulation as key problems of the park today. The East Coast Park Concept Plan was drawn up with proposals primarily to address these issues.

Other proposals for the 185ha park in the concept plan range from adding tranquil gardens to adding recreational sporting activity to cater to the diverse needs of the public.

Another proposal is to improve the location of facilities and amenities so as to help spread visitor flow and ease overcrowding and congestion in some areas of the park.

We would like to thank the writers for their feedback.

We would like to assure that NParks is mindful of the importance of greenery and will balance this with the demand for other types of amenities.

We welcome members of the public to give their views on the concept plan at the exhibition at East Coast Park Area C3, or online at www.nparks.gov.sg/ecpplan.html.

Straits Times Forum Online 6 Dec 05
Plan to ease congestion, make park accessible
Reply from NParks

I REFER to the letters, 'Don't make East Coast Park an entertainment centre' (ST, Nov 21), 'More attractions? No, keep East Coast Park as a park' (ST, Nov 25) and 'Have an Experts' Corner for skaters' (ST, Nov 30).

With over seven million visits a year, East Coast Park is the most popular park among Singaporeans. Built some 30 years ago, provisions for access, circulation, logistics and facilities need to be looked into in order for the park to serve current and future recreational demands.

The National Parks Board (NParks) conducted a survey of 500 users of East Coast Park in March last year as a preliminary poll on what users feel need to be improved.

Among the feedback received, overcrowding, poor access and circulation were cited as key problems of the park. A concept plan was drawn up with proposals primarily to address these.

Other proposals for the 185ha park range from tranquil gardens to recreational sporting activity to cater to the diverse needs of the public. Another proposal is to improve the location of facilities and amenities so as to help spread visitor flow and ease overcrowding and congestion in some areas of the park.

We thank the writers for their feedback and will consider their suggestions together with feedback that we received from other park users. Such feedback will help us to align our proposals for parks to better meet the needs of our population.

We would like to assure readers that NParks is mindful of the importance of greenery and will balance this with the demand for other types of amenities.

We welcome members of the public to give their views on the concept plan at the exhibition at East Coast Park Area C3, or online at www.nparks.gov.sg.

Dr Leong Chee Chiew
Chief Operating Officer
National Parks Board

Today Online 31 Mar 06
Building a sense of ownership
Why didn't NParks engage the public from concept stages of East Coast Park upgrading? Letter from LIM Chi-Sharn

I refer to Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy dean Kishore Mahbubani's quote: "I fear the upgrading of the East Coast Park may result in more concrete structures and less greenery" in the report "Lighting up Singapore's skyline" (March 25-26).

Mr Mahbubani has expressed what ordinary people have been saying all along about the upgrading project. Important stakeholders, residents and park users should have been engaged right from the concept stage.

The National Parks Board (NParks) survey of 500 people was a good start. But letters in the press late last year pointed to a deficiency in the NParks' concept-building process.

It was using the old method of getting public feedback after a proposal/plan has been formulated. This method elicits reactions, but not suggestions for new ideas. It, therefore, deprives stakeholders of a sense of ownership. It will not lead to the development of a park that meets the needs of its many stakeholders.

The NParks administration should give more than 500 people the chance to participate in conceptualising the ECP's upgrading. This can be achieved through online and offline focus groups (perhaps involving business owners along the park), rigorous surveys, discussions with stakeholders and so on--before a design concept emerges.

There are many competing interests such as residents who would like to see their beloved park left in peace, water sports enthusiasts who would like more space for their activities, and weekend visitors who want more car park spaces.

I believe a design competition (with attractive prizes) would enable the best ideas to emerge --ideas that could balance these needs. All stakeholders can take part in picking the winning design that best articulates the collective vision. This is a step towards a collective sense of ownership.
links
On the NParks website: View the East Coast Park Concept Plan online exhibition and give your views!
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