The Straits Times, 30 April 2002

Compromise reached over Safra golf course
By Lydia Lim
HOUSING CORRESPONDENT
NATURE lovers and golfers have reached a compromise over Safra's new golf course in Kranji.
The 18-hole course, Singapore's 23rd, will be pushed back some 60 m from the edge of the Kranji Reservoir to protect the marshes that serve as feeding grounds for birds, which include several endangered species.
The Nature Society of Singapore had asked that the boundary of the course be pushed some 200 m inland, but after discussions with the National Service Resort and Country Club (NSRCC), which will manage the course, and the Urban Redevelopment Authority, a compromise was reached.
At a press briefing yesterday, the society's president, Dr Geh Min, said she was happy with the outcome.
To protect the plants and animals at the site, the NSRCC will also be putting in place several measures recommended by its consultants, associate professors Navjot Sodhi and Hugh Tan of the National University of Singapore's Department of Biological Sciences.
These include:
·  Building a protective bund for the marshland at the reservoir's edge;
·  Retaining plants in certain areas;
·  Replanting native trees and shrubs to create migration connectors for the animals to move from one part of the course to another;
·  Introducing new ponds and marshes as part of the design.
To ensure that members of the public can also enjoy the area, NSRCC will be working with the National Parks Board to create a nature trail, a first for a local golf course.
The plan is to have a boardwalk that connects the Kranji site to the nearby Sungei Buloh Nature Reserve.
During the construction of the golf course, which will start by the end of this year, some of the birds may leave the area, said NSRCC vice-president Lee Yuen Hee.
However, he was confident that the birds would return, as they had to the Safra golf course in Changi.

The Straits Times, 27 April 2002

Fate of Kranji marshlands to be resolved soon
Nature Society fears new golf course poses threat to local bird habitats
By Dominic Nathan
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
A DECISION is likely to be taken within the next few days on whether the bird life along the Kranji marshlands will be saved when work starts on a new golf course there.
A spokesman for the developer, the National Service Resort Country Club, said that its officials will be meeting the Urban Redevelopment Authority and the National Parks Board to discuss the concerns raised by the Nature Society of Singapore (NSS), which wants the 18-hole course pushed inland from the Kranji reservoir waterline.
The NSS wants this done to protect the marshes - precious feeding grounds for herons and other birds.
The society went public with its concerns last month after initial plans to work with the country club did not materialise.
NSS conservation committee chairman Ho Hua Chew said that an area of the woods and marshy ground, measuring about 250 m by 250 m, had been cleared of vegetation recently, and he feared that work would start soon, before a compromise could be found.
A spokesman for the country club this week said that no building works have started as no tender has been awarded yet for construction, and the discussions with the authorities would take place soon.
The decision to build the course was announced a year ago. The design of the 18-hole course was to be environmentally-friendly, and would also integrate with the existing landscape.
A month later, the developer announced that it had returned eight of the 72 ha of land it was granted for the course to lessen the impact on this long-time habitat for more than 90 species of bird.
But after a study of the area and the bird life there, the NSS said it wanted the developer and planning authorities to consider moving the course 200 m inland from the Kranji reservoir waterline, to protect the marshes.
Two other areas bordering the course have also been identified as being valuable bird habitats. The society wants these sites to be integrated into the design of the golf course, so the plots' vegetation does not have to be cleared or the ponds filled in.