The Housing & Development Board (HDB) is studying a proposal to build homes on partly forested land beside Marsiling Park. On 10 November, HDB said it had no plans to set aside any part of the proposed housing site for conservation after an environmental assessment found that a patch of woodland there would be hard to sustain on its own.
The site, known as Woodlands Neighbourhood 2, lies between Woodlands Avenue 3, the Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE) and a planned BKE extension. The land has been zoned for housing since 1998.
Why the Study Advised Against Keeping the Central Woodland
HDB commissioned the assessment in 2024. Engineering consultancy AECOM studied a 14.4-hectare area that also took in part of Marsiling Park and part of the planned BKE extension.
The study rated a patch of woodland near the centre of the housing site as having moderate ecological value. Plants of conservation importance grew sparsely there. The study found that buildings would leave the patch cut off from other green spaces, making it harder for the woodland to retain its ecological value over time.
The study rated about 1.12 hectares of mangroves in Marsiling Park as having high ecological value because the habitat is rare and supports plants of conservation importance. The mangroves are north of the housing site, and the study concluded that the proposed development would have no direct impact on them.
Green Strips Proposed to Help Wildlife Move
The assessment warned that development could make it much harder for animals such as the straw-headed bulbul and the Sunda pangolin to move between habitats. It recommended strips of greenery along the eastern and western edges of the site to help wildlife move between the Mandai Mangrove and Mudflat Nature Park and the Central Catchment Nature Reserve.
The report also recommended managing construction lighting at night to limit disturbance to wildlife and, where possible, avoiding tree felling during the peak bird breeding season from March to July.
The public can read the assessment and submit feedback through HDB’s planning page until 6pm on 7 December 2026.
