More than 100ha of land to be set aside for landscape nurseries in a first

The new land parcels will be located in Lim Chu Kang and Sungei Tengah, and will come with basic infrastructure in place so that nurseries can move in quickly. ST PHOTO: JOYCE FANG

SINGAPORE - More than 100 hectares of land in northwest Singapore will be set aside for landscape nurseries, with the first plots open for tender starting November this year.

It is the first time that land has been specifically set aside for these businesses, said Second Minister for Home Affairs and National Development Desmond Lee on Saturday (Aug 19) morning.

"Currently, we don't have land specifically earmarked for nurseries," Mr Lee said. "Our nurseries are now on land that had been tendered out for agriculture generally, and they have had to compete with other farming businesses."

He was speaking at the National Parks Board's (NParks) Landscape Industry Fair, held at HortPark.

The news comes two days after the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) announced that 12 plots of Lim Chu Kang farmland are being put up for tender.

The new land parcels will be located in Lim Chu Kang and Sungei Tengah, and will come with basic infrastructure in place so that nurseries can move in quickly.

For a start, about 40 hectares - comprising around 30 one and two-hectare plots - will be released. Half of these plots will be put up for tender between November and the end of next year.

The move is part of the Landscape Productivity Roadmap to develop the industry, which has been progressively rolled out since 2012.

The smaller plots will have a nine-year tenure period, with monthly payments and renewal every three years so that operators can avoid paying large sums upfront.

The larger plots will be leased out for 20 years, with businesses required to pay an upfront amount of 10 years' worth of land lease fees.

Tender proposals will be evaluated based on both price and quality.

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