Failed race track project site not cleared a year on

Christopher Tan The Straits Times AsiaOne 23 Apr 14;

It has been almost a year since the final curtain fell on plans to build a permanent race track here, but the 41ha plot of land off Changi Coastal Road where the high-octane project sputtered and died still bears signs of its dramatic failure.

Dozens of steel and concrete piles still stand on the ground where the Changi Motorsports Hub was supposed to have been sited.

SG Changi, the Japanese-Singapore consortium that won the tender to develop the hub but later went broke, was tasked with removing them. But it looks like the piles are staying put.

In a joint response to queries from The Straits Times, the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) and Singapore Land Authority (SLA) said it was not feasible to remove the structures completely.

"SLA and SG Changi's professional engineers have assessed that a complete extraction of the installed piles is not feasible as it will weaken the soil layers and affect the stability of the adjacent sea walls," they said.

Instead, there are plans now to cut the piles "2m below ground level". Work has already started, they added.

While the sports council estimated last June that the removal of the piles and reinstatement of the land to its original form would take about a year, that prospect looks bleak now.

A check by The Straits Times last week found that dozens of piles were still standing, with no signs of cutting activity.

Sources estimate that it will take another year before the land can be restored.

Besides the piles, tonnes of soil that was dumped there from another construction site will have to removed, one source said.

Even when everything is cleared, industry watchers said the plot may not be as attractive to developers as before, because buried sections of the piles will restrict development plans.

But the SSC and SLA said detailed information of where the structures are will be recorded and provided to potential developers, so that they can "plan to incorporate or avoid the piles in future development".