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  Straits Times Forum 19 Oct 06
Pay to park in MacRitchie Reservoir? Then please don't upgrade car park
Letter from Teo Jui Hang

Today Online 12 Oct 06
How green is my parking spot?
MacRitchie Reservoir to be spruced up with better facilities, two-storey car park
Lee U-Wen u-wen@mediacorp.com.sg

Channel NewsAsia 11 Oct 06
MacRitchie Reservoir to get makeover to make it more visitor-friendly
By Noor Mohd Aziz, Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE : One of Singapore's oldest and most popular nature parks is getting a makeover. MacRitchie Reservoir will be upgraded to make it more visitor friendly.

Most of the upgrading works will concentrate on the areas outside of the nature reserve - all to make MacRitchie Reservoir, the oldest of Singapore's 14 reservoirs, even more appealing to visitors.

The changes are being incorporated after two years and several rounds of public feedback. The changes include increasing its lushness and greenery as well as improving the basic amenities there.

David Tan, a jogger, said, "I want to see (a) proper bathing facility for those who come here to run, because the government is promoting (a) healthy lifestyle and yet we can't even bathe when we come here and run...We are a very advanced country, (yet) we (have) a third world bathing facility in MacRitchie Reservoir."

The three car parks will be consolidated into a two-storey block - at the present Car Park A - housing more than 300 parking lots that will blend in with the surroundings.

Sharon Chan, Assistant Director, Central Nature Reserve, National Parks Board, said, "Look at the development of the car park itself. Though (it is) concentrated in one area and is multi-storey, it captures the surrounding terrain and is tucked into one corner, where it is not visible to the visitors." One of the current carparks - Car Park B - will be turned into a warm-up area and a drop off point instead.

National water agency PUB, which is undertaking this project with the National Parks Board, assures nature lovers the greenery will remain intact and more trees will be added.

Yap Kheng Guan, Director, 3P Network, PUB, said, "We are mindful that whatever we do, we must not change the face and character of MacRitchie Reservoir. It is something close to the hearts of Singaporeans. We want to keep it, we want to conserve it. So whatever we do is really looking at the basic amenities and in so doing, enhance this area, adding more lushness, more greenery so that it can then become a more fitting gateway to nature."

A public tender has been called for the improvement works on October 6 and will close on November 6. The upgrading works are expected to start by year-end, for completion by March 2008. - CNA/ms

Today Online 12 Oct 06
How green is my parking spot?
MacRitchie Reservoir to be spruced up with better facilities, two-storey car park
Lee U-Wen u-wen@mediacorp.com.sg

WHAT do visitors to MacRitchie Reservoir Park not like about it?

Gripes would probably include too few parking spaces, run-down toilets and a lack of shower facilities and lockers. The authorities have listened.

Starting this December, major upgrading works will begin to spruce up and beautify the park area of Singapore's oldest reservoir. An open tender was announced yesterday for this project, which comes under the Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters (ABC Waters) programme of the Public Utilities Board (PUB). The $23-million initiative was announced recently to upgrade most of Singapore's 14 reservoirs and 32 rivers.

Describing MacRitchie as the "crown jewel" of all reservoirs here, PUB's 3P--People, Private, Public sectors--Network director Yap Kheng Guan said the improvement works are a result of two years of public consultation and focus group discussions.

He added that the PUB and its partner, the National Parks Board (NParks), have promised to take a "cautious and careful" approach to ensure the lush nature surrounding the park will not be affected once the works are completed by March 2008.

For starters, the three open-air car parks will be replaced by a two-storey facility, boosting the number of lots to 305 from the present 190. The new car park will have plenty of greenery so that it can blend with the surroundings, and 50 temporary lots will be created for use while it is being built. Consolidating the parking spaces under one roof would solve the problem of illegal parking along the double yellow lines of Reservoir Road.

There will also be an open area for warming up prior to running or exercising, as the area is popular for cross-country runs.

The park's toilets, which were first built in 1969, will get new shower facilities, changing rooms and lockers for visitors.

MacRitchie Reservoir is the third site to be upgraded by the PUB. The other projects are a $2.5-million plan to do up a 200-metre stretch of Kallang River at Kolam Ayer, scheduled to start in December, and a $5.4-million deal to develop Bedok Reservoir on which work is expected to start later this month.

Straits Times Forum 19 Oct 06
Pay to park in MacRitchie Reservoir? Then please don't upgrade car park
Letter from Teo Jui Hang

I refer to the recent report "MacRitchie Reservoir to get makeover".

The oldest of Singapore's 14 reservoirs has left in me many fond memories of my childhood. I still visit the place as it is also one of Singapore's most popular nature parks. The nostalgia and serenity make me visit it frequently.

I have the following concerns. I would be delighted if I can participate in a feedback session on the future of this park. However, it was reported that "the changes are being incorporated after two years and several rounds of public feedback". When was this public feedback conducted and when did it end? I was not aware of any public feedback in the last two years.

Parking is free now at the reservoir. However,"the three car parks will be consolidated into a two-storey block" according to the report.

Does this mean that visitors in future will have to pay for parking like in the Botanical Gardens? If this is the case, do we really need an upgrading?
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