Thousands back petitions to save Gillman Barracks, Maju Forest from housing development
Thousands have backed petitions calling for Gillman Barracks and Maju Forest to be conserved instead of redeveloping them for public housing.
The petitions, hosted on change.org, have been widely circulated online. As of press time, the petitions for Gillman Barracks and Maju Forest have garnered more than 5,500 and 11,300 signatures, respectively.
‘Build the homes without erasing the wild’
The petition to conserve Maju Forest states that the forest in Clementi is home to endangered species such as the straw-headed bulbul and the Sunda pangolin.
It also cited the successful campaign to conserve Dover Forest in 2021, during which more than 50,000 people signed a petition and about 1,800 submitted feedback to HDB. The matter was subsequently raised in Parliament, resulting in about half of the forest being retained.
As for the petition to conserve Gillman Barracks, it sets out five reasons why the site should be preserved.
One of them is the ongoing housing development at the Greater Southern Waterfront (GSW), located about 1km away from the Gillman site, where the former Keppel Golf Course site is slated to make way for 10,000 new public and private homes.
Other reasons cited include the site’s historical significance — the site reportedly predates the British colonial era.
‘Please save our forests’: Netizens
Many netizens expressed support for the petitions, calling for Singapore’s forests to be preserved.
“Please save our forests,” a commenter wrote on Facebook, while another urged people to spread the word.
Others argued that continued housing developments would leave wildlife without habitats. One commenter noted that they had already noticed more monkeys venturing into residential areas and warned that such encounters could become more common if their natural habitats continued to be cleared.
“Our government needs to prioritise the preservation of our precious natural heritage,” a user said.
8ha of of forest in Clementi, 25 Gillman Barracks heritage buildings to be retained
The Housing Board announced on July 10 its plans for the 23ha Maju Forest site, under which 15ha of forest in Clementi’s Sunset Way area will be cleared for new public housing developments. About 8ha of the site will be retained to “provide refuge for wildlife and facilitate fauna movement”.
The retained area includes a natural freshwater stream as well as an area surrounding the Old Jurong Railway Line where a 4km-long nature trail is being studied.
It was also announced that the upcoming Gillman Barracks housing estate will retain 25 heritage buildings. These were among 86 that were assessed in a heritage study conducted ahead of the site’s redevelopment for housing.
About a fifth of the 40ha estate – which will comprise a mix of public and private housing – will be set aside as green spaces.
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