Work on hawker centre, polyclinic in Bishan town centre to start in this term of govt: Chee Hong Tat

SINGAPORE - Work on the new hawker centre, polyclinic and revamped bus interchange in the Bishan town centre will start within the current term of government and take several years to complete, said National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat. About 200,000 sq m of new office space could also be built in the town centre, matching the scale of that in Paya Lebar Central, Mr Chee said in a Facebook post on June 26. The Government is studying plans to develop Bishan into a new business hub as part of the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) 2025 Draft Master Plan, which was unveiled on June 25.

Several government agencies are exploring the feasibility of relocating their offices to the area to jump-start the development of this business district, URA said earlier. Plans are afoot to develop Bishan into a sub-regional centre. Such areas are business hubs, like those in Paya Lebar and Serangoon, that bring jobs closer to homes. They are smaller than the regional centres in Woodlands, Jurong East and Tampines. Efforts to improve connectivity in Bishan will make it easier for residents to move around the town and access neighbouring facilities, said Mr Chee, an MP for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC.

For instance, cycling paths in the Bishan town centre will allow residents to cycle to upcoming recreational spaces such as those along the North-South Corridor and Kallang River.

Bishan Place – the road behind Junction 8 shopping centre – will be transformed into a pedestrian mall and be linked to transport hubs and facilities, he added. There are also plans for an “active street” along the developments in Bishan Road that will be connected to Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park. Active streets are spaces that prioritise walking and cycling alongside public buses.

Asked about potential congestion in the area, URA said agencies are studying plans to make the area more pedestrian-friendly and provide pedestrian connections to key transport nodes. Traffic simulations have been carried out to ensure that the proposed road network can support the existing and future traffic from the development of the town centre, it added. Along with the transformation of Bishan Place into a pedestrian mall, there will also be road enhancement works and traffic measures, URA said.

These plans are on top of that for the Toa Payoh Integrated Development on the site of the former Toa Payoh Sport Centre in Lorong 6 Toa Payoh, which will be completed within this term of government, said Mr Chee. The integrated development will have an improved sports centre, an upgraded polyclinic, a bigger library and a rejuvenated town park. It will have sheltered linkways to the Toa Payoh MRT station and bus interchange. The Draft Master Plan 2025 includes plans to continue driving Singapore’s economic growth by strengthening its economic gateways and business districts, rejuvenating key precincts and supporting innovation. The exhibition of the draft masterplan will be displayed at the HDB Hub in Toa Payoh from Aug 9 to 17.

Ms Catherine He, head of research at property agency Colliers, said the 200,000 sq m of new office space that could be built in Bishan is a “significant and impactful amount of space to be injected into the office market”. “This is equivalent to around 2.4 per cent of current total islandwide office stock, twice the planned office stock for the Jurong Lake District master developer site (100,000 sq m) and more than twice the amount of office space at Paya Lebar Quarters (81,000 sq m),” she said. As this move could introduce around 18,000 to 20,000 more workers in the Bishan area, Ms He said amenities there need to be ramped up to support the increase in activity, noting the new hawker centre and polyclinic planned by the authorities. “However, until more public and private residential projects are introduced or completed, (the new office space) would boost resale prices and rents in Bishan and its surrounding areas from higher housing demand from professionals,” she said.

Real estate consultancy Knight Frank Singapore’s research head Leonard Tay said some industries may prefer remaining in the Central Business District, rather than decentralising, for reasons such as prestige and proximity to clients. “Not every corporate or business might be ready for decentralised locations, even if these are located in the fringe areas,” he added. Mr Tay said office spaces in Bishan should be offered in bite-sized amounts for a start, and scale upwards based on demand over time. Retired engineer Peter Sim, 75, said he was looking forward to the new polyclinic in Bishan town centre because Bishan residents currently have to travel to the polyclinics in Ang Mo Kio or Toa Payoh.

He said he hopes the new amenities will ease the congestion in Junction 8 and its surrounding areas. Student Victoria Teo, 17, was worried about crowds thronging Bishan after the new developments are completed. “Many students come to Junction 8 to have lunch, and it is already quite hard to find seats,” she said. Law undergraduate Ethan Tan, 20, said he was excited about the new cycling paths as the Bishan area is currently not very convenient for cyclists. “(The development plans) will make a lot of things more accessible, and it will make the area more lively,” he said.