SINGAPORE — The 40-year-old Chong Pang City neighbourhood centre will get a rejuvenation in the form of a new integrated development with a community club, market and hawker centre, and facilities such as swimming pools and shops.

The multistorey 0.9ha development — bigger than a football field — will be called Chill @ Chong Pang. It will stand on the site of the current Chong Pang Community Club and Block 102 Yishun Avenue 5, a four-storey Housing Board commercial block which the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) will acquire, authorities announced on Tuesday (Sept 8).

SLA has gazetted the acquisition of the affected land, and will assist affected shop owners and tenants through the acquisition process, it said.

Shop owners will receive "full market compensation", said Nee Soon Member of Parliament (MP) K Shanmugam in announcing the new development.

The block comprises 17 sold shops on the ground floor and 51 shops rented out by HDB. Part of the surface car park will also be affected.

The new Chill @ Chong Pang will have three swimming pools, a gymnasium, fitness studios, a commercial space suitable for parents with young children and more than 300 car park lots.

Noting that Nee Soon GRC has seen many new developments over the years, Mr Shanmugam, who is also Law and Home Affairs Minister, said: “This Chill @ Chong Pang is another such development. It’s going to be, I think, very welcomed by the residents of Nee Soon, because it doesn’t just serve Chong Pang… Nee Soon South is one side, Nee Soon Central is on the other side, all within a short walk away."

Residents of nearby Nee Soon East and Nee Soon Link will also be able to enjoy the facilities, he added.

The Chong Pang Market and Food Centre — which has 56 cooked food stalls and 123 market stalls — at Blocks 104 and 105 and three kiosks at Blocks 101A, 101B and 101C will be relocated to the replacement market and hawker centre once the development is ready.

Stallholders and kiosk tenants can continue to operate at their original locations until the new building is ready. The vacated site will be redeveloped into a community plaza by 2028, said Mr Shanmugam.

Chong Pang City is the first neighbourhood centre in Yishun New Town, and is about 40 years old. The current amenities and facilities at Chong Pang City are “ageing” and “in need of rejuvenation”, said SLA, the People’s Association, the National Environment Agency and Sport Singapore in a joint media release.

Construction for the new integrated development is expected to start in the second half of 2022 and be completed in 2027. CNA

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