Our Declaration from April 17 Forum on Overdevelopment

FORUM DECLARATION

BY TANJONG BUNGA RESIDENTS’ ASSOCIATION (TBRA), BATU FERRINGHI RESIDENTS’ ASSOCIATION (BFRA)
& FORUM PARTICIPANTS

We, the Tanjong Bunga Residents’ Association (TBRA), the Batu Ferringhi Resident’s Association (BFRA) & all participants of the Forum entitled “Overdevelopment on the North Coast” held on 17^th April 2010 at the Paradise Sandy Beach Hotel in Tanjong Bunga, do hereby declare that:

1. the border of Tanjong Bunga starts from Jalan Gajah and ends just before the Desa Mar Vista Resort;
2. Tanjong Bunga is in the Secondary Corridor and the diagram shown in the published State Structure Plan was wrongfully amended by the previous State Government to show Tanjong Bunga within the Primary Corridor; the diagram is to be considered null & void since it was changed secretly by the previous State Government via the then CM without following legal procedures;
3. the text in the State Structure Plan and the legend of the diagram clearly state that Tanjong Bunga is in the Secondary Corridor and take precedence over the changed diagram;
4. the present State Government has the legal authority and the moral obligation to rectify this glaring anomaly and to take all necessary measures to ensure that Tanjong Bunga remains in the Secondary Corridor;
5. the soon to be released State Local Plan must incorporate and clearly show Tanjong Bunga to be within the Secondary Corridor zone, which sets strict limits & requirements on all development projects;
6. all approved projects which have not commenced yet, are to be reviewed, esp. in terms of density, to be in line with Secondary Corridor requirements;
7. all future development projects in Tanjong Bunga & Batu Ferringhi must comply and not exceed the density guidelines of the Secondary Corridor;
8. all current and future proposed development projects in Tanjong Bunga & Batu Ferringhi must take into account the serious infrastructure limitations currently faced in these two areas;
9. that NO FURTHER approvals be granted henceforth for all dangerous hill slope development projects on Class III & Class IV hill slopes in Tanjong Bunga & Batu Ferringhi;
10. that all future development projects MUST NOT cause any environmental degradation such as soil erosion that leads to sea & beach pollution, thus severely affecting our local recreational use of beach & open space, the tourism industry & the MM2H programme;
11. that there be no land reclamation along the North Coast until and unless a comprehensive Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment (SEIA) is undertaken and approved by ad-hoc panel of experts (not only by the State Government or MPPP);
12. that at least two Public Recreational Parks be created for easy access by all: one on the top of Pearl Hill and the other on the rock pile, the so-called Sore Thumb, next to the Penang Swimming Club; plans for both these Public Parks have been submitted for gazetting.

We make the above Declaration as concerned citizens and residents of Penang and call upon our State Government to take all measures necessary to implement the above points in the public interest.

By TBRA, BFRA & FORUM PARTICIPANTS

Tanjong Bunga, 17 April 2010