Save charm and greenery of Seletar

Letter from Sandra Alison Jayandran (Mdm), Straits Times Forum 4 Aug 08;

I REFER to last Thursday's article, 'Lights out? Not for quaint lamp posts in Seletar', and applaud the JTC Corporation for saving some of the character of the old Seletar airbase. However, saving these 30 lamp posts is only scratching the surface of what can be done.

I feel more can be done to retain the area's charm and greenery. On a recent drive there, I was horrified to see the amount of change already happening, even though the roadworks will not start until next year.

The area I refer to is the plot of land that sits just in front of the temporary offices of the aerospace companies. A lot of greenery has been removed, making the area sterile and lifeless. Is this what we want for this gem of a place that has been untouched by construction for at least 50 years? I urge JTC to try and save as many trees as possible, and confine road construction to the area nearer the airport and leave as much as possible alone.

In the same article, it was mentioned that 204 old black- and-white houses will be saved, for which I am grateful. However, I can't help but feel that, of the remaining 174, more can be saved if creative planning is employed. Can JTC try to keep more of them for use?

I also wish to highlight the other old buildings in the airbase which are not black-and- white houses, that is, the administrative military buildings which have been abandoned for some time. Their architecture is rather unique and worth saving. I hope JTC is looking into keeping these and integrating them with the rest of the planned area.

Please, do as much as possible to save this area. It will be a real shame if, years down the road, we regret this rash act of demolition. It will be too late by then.

Links

Postcards from Seletar a web resource by residents of Seletar