RESIDENTS in the west can look forward to having a wider variety of homes to choose from in the next few years.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) yesterday announced detailed plans to rejuvenate estates such as Teban and Pandan Gardens, and Faber Terrace and Faber Hills - part of a bigger makeover for the Jurong district.
As the existing International Business Park expands, infrastructure upgrading works will also be carried out at surrounding housing estates by national water agency PUB and the Housing Board.
Dredging works by the PUB to deepen Jurong Lake to allow for more recreational water activities, for example, have already begun.
Under its Active, Beautiful, Clean (ABC) Waters Programme which aims to convert canals and reservoirs into a scenic network of waterways, PUB plans to build a new waterfront promenade with boardwalks, bridges and wetlands at Jurong Lake.
At Teban and Pandan Gardens, the HDB has been rejuvenating these estates through various upgrading programmes and its Selective En-bloc Redevelopment Scheme (Sers). Sers involves the relocation of residents in public housing that is about 30 years old to newly developed high-density projects located nearby.
Road improvement works at Faber Terrace and Faber Hills will also allow more quality low- and medium-density housing fronting Sungei Ulu Pandan to be built to support the growth of the Jurong Lake District, said URA.
A 1.9ha private residential and commercial site next to Jurong East MRT was also put on URA’s reserve list last month.
Knight Frank’s director of research and consultancy Nicholas Mak does not expect the plans to have any immediate significant impact on the market.
But Colliers International’s research and advisory director Tay Huey Ying said the plans to enhance residential estates ‘will add variety to housing options…and help entice home purchasers’.
‘This can help to boost population in this area - a critical ingredient if the Jurong Gateway is to be a success.’
Source : Straits Times - 30 Dec 2008
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