First Tengah flats to be launched in November: Lawrence Wong

SINGAPORE — The first flats of the new Tengah town will be launched in November through a “substantial offering” of about 1,500 units across different flat types, said Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong in a blog post on Sunday (May 13).

“Over the next few years, we will continue to have a steady stream of Tengah flats,” he wrote on the ministry’s blog.

When completed, Tengah town will be about 700 hectares, roughly the size of Bishan. It will be pedestrian-friendly with a car-free town centre, and be integrated with the surrounding greenery and rich biodiversity, said Mr Wong.

“With the recent announcement of the 24-km Jurong Region Line (JRL), residents in Tengah can also look forward to excellent connectivity, with four JRL stations connecting the town to Jurong Innovation District, Jurong Lake District and beyond. Within Tengah, we are also looking to enhance last-mile connectivity through autonomous vehicles,” said Mr Wong.

The Land Transport Authority announced last week the alignment of the JRL and locations of its stations. The future stations that will be in the new town are Tengah, Hong Kah, Tengah Plantation and Tengah Park. They will open in 2026 and 2027.

The masterplan for Tengah town – bound by the Kranji and Pan-Island expressways, Bukit Batok Road and Brickland Road – was announced in 2016. Estimated to be fully developed over two decades, it could comprise up to 42,000 new homes, with public housing making up more than 70 per cent of the units.

It will have five housing districts: Plantation, Park, Garden, Brickland and Forest Hill, each to be designed to correspond with a facet of the town’s identity.

Apart from the standard suite of eco-friendly features incorporated into all new Housing and Development Board (HDB) projects since 2014, such as smart lighting in common areas and centralised chutes for recyclables, public housing in Tengah will also include an automated waste collection system, like the ones used in Yuhua and Punggol Northshore, the authorities said previously.

Billed as a “Forest Town”, Tengah sits on a green area linking the western part of Singapore to ecosystems in the Western catchment area and Central Catchment Nature Reserve. Town planners are setting up a 100m-wide, 5km-long forest corridor there that would link the two catchment areas, the HDB said in 2016.

The authorities have also conducted an environmental baseline study for the area, but key findings have yet to be released.