SINGAPORE – Gillman Barracks – an arts and lifestyle enclave at the southern end of Alexandra Road – is being studied by the Government as a potential site for a new residential neighbourhood.

National Development Minister Desmond Lee told Parliament on March 5 that the new neighbourhood could comprise a mix of public and private housing that will meet demand for homes closer to the city centre.

Completed in 1936, the barracks were originally built to accommodate the Middlesex Regiment – the second British infantry regiment to be housed in Singapore during the colonial era.

After the grounds were handed back to Singapore by the British, they were used by the Singapore Armed Forces between the 1970s and 1980s, before being repurposed into a lifestyle cluster from the 1990s.

The Ministry of National Development (MND) and Housing Board said that existing tenants, whose tenancies will progressively expire by 2030, can continue to stay on-site until their tenancies end. They include art galleries and food and beverage outlets.

New tenancies for properties within Gillman Barracks were announced as recently as April 2023 by the Singapore Land Authority (SLA), which has been managing the enclave since March 2020.

The area, within Telok Blangah, was also one of 19 areas under study in the Heritage and Identity Structure Plan – one of the products of the long-term plan review by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), which was completed in 2022 and will guide Singapore’s development for the next 50 years and beyond.

Environmental and heritage studies will begin in the second quarter of 2024 ahead of possible development, and are slated to be completed in the first half of 2026, said MND and HDB.

Findings from the studies will allow the authorities to “plan sensitively” for the site’s development, added Mr Lee during the debate on his ministry’s budget.

There are currently no heritage protections in place for any of the buildings or structures in the area.

Government agencies said they will engage existing tenants at Gillman Barracks about future plans, and that the new residential neighbourhood could capitalise on the charm of the colonial-era buildings, as well as the site’s proximity to green spaces such as the Southern Ridges and parks in the Labrador area.

Asked for more details about the plans, such as how large the area to be studied will be, the authorities said more details will be shared when they are ready.

HDB, URA and SLA also said any further extension or retention of current uses in Gillman Barracks will be assessed at a later point, when the studies are over and development plans are ready.

According to URA’s 2019 masterplan, Gillman Barracks is part of an approximately 27ha area – equivalent in size to about 37 football fields – zoned as a reserve site, indicating that its specific use has yet to be determined.

The reserve site includes the original St Andrew’s Junior College campus that now houses the Academy of Singapore Teachers; some buildings previously occupied by the Pasir Panjang Vocational Institute that are now leased out for commercial and other uses; as well as a sizeable forest patch.

Besides revealing plans for the Gillman Barracks site, Mr Lee said about 10,000 homes will be built in the upcoming Chencharu housing area, which is located near Khatib MRT station.

Responding to queries, HDB said that based on current preliminary plans, the homes will be built by 2040 on the approximately 70ha site.

At least 80 per cent of these will be public flats, said Mr Lee, adding that new recreational, community and commercial facilities will be built in the area, which is in Yishun and will add vibrancy to the larger town.

The first flats in Chencharu will be launched for sale as part of June’s Build-To-Order exercise, plans released by the HDB on Feb 21 showed.

Chencharu was one of 16 areas identified for new housing in 2022’s long-term plan review exhibition, with Turf City in Bukit Timah and Marina South among the other areas earmarked for future homes.

Asked by Mr Chong Kee Hiong (Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC) why the Government is studying housing in Gillman Barracks, having recently announced other sizeable future residential developments, such as Turf Club in Kranji and Turf City, Mr Lee said Singapore needs to cater to its citizens’ growing aspirations and a rapidly ageing population.

He cited a decrease in three-generation households and an increase in nuclear families, more singles preferring to live alone, and a general preference for more space – both within homes and around housing estates – as factors contributing to development demand.

“We will need to open up sites, including in Gillman Barracks, because these allow us to build homes for Singaporeans – closer to their parents, closer to their workplaces and closer to desirable parks and other amenities,” he said.

Mr Lee also said that while Singapore has “ample land” to develop, land that has not been previously developed is scarce, meaning that Singapore has to recycle land and work with brownfield sites, which become available for development only “in time and space”, when present uses expire.

Doing this requires the authorities to plan ahead and forecast future household composition, he said, with future plans for sites laid out even as current and interim uses proceed.

In the shorter term, the public can contribute their suggestions for the next draft masterplan, which will be unveiled in 2025 and set out development plans for the next 10 to 15 years.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for National Development Indranee Rajah said roving exhibitions will be held islandwide in 2024 to gather ideas for an upcoming recreation masterplan – one element of the larger masterplan.

URA said the exhibitions will take place between April and July and have seven stops. The agency added that the recreation plan will focus on three areas: leveraging Singapore’s green and blue spaces for recreation, bringing recreational spaces closer to homes, and making such spaces inclusive for people of all ages and abilities.

More details on the draft masterplan engagements are available at go.gov.sg/URADraftMasterPlan