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Thread: Swiss Club Road spat heats up

  1. #1
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    Default Swiss Club Road spat heats up

    http://www.straitstimes.com/archive/...heats-20120826

    Swiss Club Road spat heats up

    Siblings who live there complain of noise from Swiss School, which is planning an expansion

    Published on Aug 26, 2012

    By Amelia Tan


    A squabble between neighbours that started four years ago is heating up in the upscale Swiss Club Road.

    Three siblings who live in separate bungalows along the street say they have had to bear with increased noise levels from their neighbour, the Swiss School, ever since the private school expanded its premises in 2008.

    Now that the school is thinking of expanding further, the news has moved the Lees to question why it is even there in the first place.

    Mr Alan Lee, 58, said the site which the school sits on is not zoned for educational use, but for recreation and sporting activities.

    "We are perplexed that the authorities allowed the school to be here. If it plans to grow, and with that add to the traffic congestion, the school should be located at a site properly zoned for educational or institutional use," he told The Sunday Times yesterday through e-mail.

    The school, which has been there since 1967, says the Lees are being unreasonable, and that it has no intention of moving.

    Its president Rebekka Aicher Koch said relocating is out of the question, and that it is looking to expand its student population - from 280 to 330 - because of growing demand.

    The Swiss community here is 3,000 strong and growing at about 10 per cent each year.

    The Lees have sent numerous letters to the authorities, including the Urban Redevelopment Authority, National Parks Board and police, to complain about the noise from the school.

    Even Ms Sim Ann, the area's MP, has stepped in - though the parties are not on talking terms.

    Last year, the Swiss Club, which is next to the school and owns the land on which the school sits, sent a letter to Mr Lee to say his fence had encroached onto its property.

    Mr Lee, who owns a steel fabrication business, had to tear down the fence and build a new one.

    The quarrel dates back to 2008, when the school built a new classroom block and multi-purpose hall.

    To move its construction materials and for fire safety reasons, it also built a new access road, leading from the Swiss Club Link road into the school grounds.

    The Lees found fault with this because a wooded area that shielded their homes from the school had to be cleared to build this road.

    The wooded area is part of the Swiss Club's property.

    The Lees said the trees in the area had helped to buffer the noise from the school, and they want the school to replace the trees.

    They added that they have "no issue with the expansion if it is done properly".

    "All we ask is for the school to give us back our amenities, which we lost after 2008," Mr Lee said.

    Noise and traffic have been growing in the Swiss Club Road neighbourhood for years - partly due to the four international schools there.

    Besides the Swiss School, there are the German European School Singapore, Hollandse School and Singapore Korean School, all located nearby in Bukit Tinggi.

    Next month, tensions are set to rise further with the Oktoberfest event, held yearly in September in the area.

    Residents, including the Lees, have called the police in previous years to complain about the noise and traffic jams caused by the thousands of revellers during the five-day celebrations.

    After speaking to the Swiss Club, Ms Sim said it has agreed to minimise "congestion and inconvenience" to residents.

    This year, from Sept 12 to 16, the club will charter taxis and shuttle buses for the festival's partygoers to discourage them from parking in the neighbourhood.

    Swiss Club manager Heinz Iten said: "We are guests in Singapore, so we try to assimilate.

    "But when the requests are unreasonable, we have to stand up for ourselves too."

    [email protected]

  2. #2
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    It's crazy to have so many schools along a narrow road. our govt should just relocate some of the schools somewhere else - esp when the land has never been zoned for education in the first place.

  3. #3
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    hello of course la swiss school on swiss road...than what swiss school on geylang road...

  4. #4
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    Oct 2010
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    mega rich people in GCBs also got problems....

    rich people problem more juicy than poor people problems...

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