Toh Yi residents propose new site for elderly studios

Residents of Toh Yi estate (pictured), who had petitioned against the development of studio apartments for the elderly near their homes, have proposed an alternative location. However, their suggestion has irked around 50 residents living near the new proposed site, who have filed another petition to have the units built elsewhere.

The second group of residents are upset that the first group "have made it someone else's problem."

The new proposal and petitions come as the HDB prepares to launch a Build-to-Order (BTO) exercise for the 130 studio apartments this month.

The units were originally slated to be built on a parcel of land at the junction of Toh Yi Drive and Toh Yi Road in Bukit Timah. A small garden, jogging track and basketball court would have had to make way for the proposed development.

This left some residents in the area unhappy, as they would lose the estate's main recreational facilities. They then suggested building the apartments on a plot near Block 17, which is currently occupied by a temporary carpark.

However, residents at Block 17 opposed the suggestion, as it would rob them of the "open view" they have "paid a premium for". They added that the elderly may find the place too noisy and dusty.

They in turn proposed another site — the land plot located between the Bukit Timah Food Centre and Market and a petrol station. The site would "affect the least number of residents," they said.

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