Flooding and heritage – there’s a link
Letter from Vinita Ramani Mohan, 15 Jun 2011.
AS A resident of Bukit Timah, there are two issues that I have been following closely over the past year. The first is the intermittent flash floods and the second is the closure in two weeks of the Tanjong Pagar and Bukit Timah railway stations and the return of the Malayan railway land to Singapore.
Though the two issues at first glance seem unrelated, they both pertain to our natural environment and how rapidly the landscape of Singapore is changing.
A recent letter to Today provided a refreshingly intelligent perspective that aptly connected to The Nature Society’s proposal “The Green Corridor – A Proposal to Keep the Railway Lands as a Continuous Green Corridor”.
Source: TODAY
Don’t cut a road across the green corridor
Straits Times Forum, 8 Mar 11.
THE eagerness with which we want to make life easy for motorists is a narrow paradigm (‘Faber residents squawk over road plan’; last Wednesday).
The Land Transport Authority must design the city for people and not for cars. Perhaps traffic can be eased if we made it easier for people to cycle and walk, which is what the Nature Society (Singapore)’s plan for the green corridor envisions: a 40km stretch for eco-friendly and less carbon-intensive passage.
The corridor could become an iconic regional attraction, which can be propped up by an economic model that earns revenue. It would also preserve our ecology and heritage for generations – a real winner for all.
Source: Straits Times via Wildsingapore
‘Nature corridor’ proposal for railway land
Nature Society’s idea incorporates cycling paths, recreational areas
By Jeremy Au Yong, Straits Times, 9 Oct 10.
THE Nature Society of Singapore is close to finishing a proposal to convert the 40km stretch of Malayan Railway land here into a green corridor.
It would contain cycling paths connecting different neighbourhoods to the town centre, and recreational spaces. It would also be home to many of Singapore’s native plants and animals.
The proposal seeks to preserve the railway tracks, which the society regards as an important part of Singapore’s history.
But some property analysts say the proposal will be a hard sell. And even if it is approved, a nature corridor can at best last for a decade or two. The railway corridor will inevitably be developed, for there are sound reasons to incorporate the land into development plans.
Source: Straits Times via Wildsingapore
