SINGAPORE: It was the luscious green landscape that made Ms Christina Tang choose the Dairy Farm Estate condominium as her home in 1989.
The retiree said she could have moved anywhere else, to other apartments or condominiums.
“But we wanted this because look, in this entire Singapore, can you find (an estate) like this?”
Despite the fact that the condo is “very old”, many residents are still “sticking around” because of the beauty of the place, said Ms Tang.
“You cannot put a price on that. You can always get another condominium … but you can’t get the atmosphere that we have here,” she said.
But to Ms Tang’s dismay, that atmosphere may soon see some major changes with the removal of four big trees.
Known as Khaya trees, these are large, tall trees that can grow up to a maximum height of 30m.
Residents opposed to the removal of these trees contacted CNA with concerns over the decision to cut them down when they are still healthy and have been standing strong for more than 35 years.
They also pointed to discrepancies in reports assessing the health and structural stability of the trees.
A group of eight residents also sent a legal letter addressed to the condominium’s Management Corporation Strata Title (MCST) and the landscaper involved, Lovely Landscape and Construction.
Residents asked for works on the trees to not proceed until a “proper and considered decision” is taken in accordance with the International Society of Arboriculture code of ethics and relevant provisions under the Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act.
A petition on Change.org was also created in mid-August to prevent the loss of the four trees. It has since garnered more than 250 signatures.
When CNA visited the condominium on Friday (Sep 20) afternoon, the four trees in question and the surrounding area, which includes a playground, had been cordoned off.
Residents said the area was only blocked off this week, the same time they learned about the decision to remove the trees.
A management notice dated Sep 12 seen by CNA informed residents that a tree-cutting and pruning exercise would be conducted from Sep 16 to the end of October at the spot where the four Khaya trees are located.
On Friday, a man, who identified himself as the manager of Lovely Landscape and Construction, was seen explaining to residents that he had not received instructions to cut down the four Khaya trees yet.
Instead, the landscaper was only pruning other trees located nearby.
