Air base move will revive ‘sleepy town’

SINGAPORE — Whenever he needs a change of scenery from the four walls of his office at Kaki Bukit Avenue 3, exhibition designer Rodney Lim needs only to look out of his window — where an uninterrupted view of Singapore’s south-eastern cityscape awaits him.

This is because his office is on the top floor of a 10-storey industrial building, one of the tallest in the vicinity.

“You can see all the way to Marina Bay Sands,” he explained, gesturing towards the familiar silhouette in the distance. The view was the reason he picked the spot as his office — which overlooks the entire eastern side of Singapore — seven years ago, Mr Lim, 47, added.

High-rise buildings remain elusive in large swathes of the east due to height restrictions — which are imposed for safety reasons — on areas around Paya Lebar Air Base.

During the National Day Rally on Sunday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced plans to relocate the air base to Changi, thus freeing up these areas from the height restrictions for future redevelopment.

Some residents TODAY interviewed, such as those living in Jalan Tenaga near Kaki Bukit Avenue 1, were looking forward to the changes, even though they are many years away.

“The redevelopment of this place will hopefully inject some life into the entire area and have a positive effect on our property prices,” said businessman Hashim Sulaiman, 40.

Others hoped for more amenities and recreational facilities.

“Right now, we live in a rather sleepy town. So, somewhere we can take our children to on the weekends, for sports or to shop, would be great,” said insurance agent Susan Chua, 38.

Many are unlikely to miss the sound of planes flying overhead on busy afternoons — although some residents and workers in residential neighbourhoods, such as Eunos, Tampines and Hougang, said they had learnt to tune out the engine noise.

“I’ve been here for more than 10 years, I think I have got used to it already,” said Mr Darren Lee, 30, sales manager of Monster Garage Trading at Bartley East Road, which is located south of the air base.

While the industrial area surrounding Mr Lee’s auto-repair company is not easily accessible by public transport — most of his customers either drive or come by taxi — the location still attracts a lot of traffic.

Traffic congestion could be particularly bad during rush hour in the mornings and evenings on roads leading from the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway to the Kaki Bukit Industrial Park.

“Eunos and Kaki Bukit area is famous for the traffic jam,” said Mr Nor Azman, a 50-year-old building management executive.

The widening of Eunos Link — which borders between Kaki Bukit and Ubi — from three to four lanes about two years ago has offered some relief, but not solved the entire problem, he said.

Mr Lim, who also drives to work, avoids the traffic by coming in early in the mornings and leaving late in the evenings. “More development in the area will only add to the traffic,” he said.

In any case, those interviewed said they appreciated the practical benefits of moving the air base out of the area.

“It’s a good thing, because Singapore’s land is scarce, we need to build vertically,” said Mr Nor Azman.