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| POWER
to the people |
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| The
POWER sessions are an effective
way to involve the public in the
process of reviewing and improving
URA’s Development Control
guidelines. |
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The Urban Redevelopment
Authority (URA) is the first government organisation
to tap on the POWER (Public Officers Working on
Eliminating Red Tape) initiative to seek ideas
from customers and members of the public.
The URA Development Control
guidelines help to implement the planning vision
of Singapore, facilitate development and protect
public amenity by ensuring a pleasant environment.
URA seeks to involve professionals and end-users in the private sector in the
process of reviewing and improving these guidelines.
One effective way to do so is by conducting POWER sessions where participants
are given the freedom to review the guidelines and suggest feasible changes,
which can be implemented within months.
The participants of the sessions include regular customers such as architects,
developers, professional bodies and relevant government agencies, as well as
private citizens such as homeowners and members from the Feedback Unit. They
are placed in teams with URA officers who assume the roles of resource person
and secretary for the discussion.
Before each session, the guidelines pertaining to the theme for discussion
are thoroughly reviewed and then grouped thematically. The facilitator and
resource persons are nominated and they will begin preparations for their roles.
To establish a common understanding of the rationale for the guidelines, reading
materials are sent out to the participants a few weeks before the session.
This way, the participants have time to clarify the guidelines with the resource
persons. The more complex guidelines are also presented at the start of the
POWER session for the benefit of participants who may not be so familiar with
them.
POWER sessions in progress
The first POWER session was held on 15 January 2003. The focus was on the industrial,
warehouse and business park guidelines. Fifteen guide-
lines were reviewed. URA accepted nine recommendations, including suggestions
to change six of the guidelines. While some of the recommendations are not
accepted at this point in time, they could be adopted in future.
During the second POWER session, the Development Control guidelines pertaining
to residential flats and condominiums were reviewed. In addition, several new
ideas such as the home office scheme and how to promote more interesting building
designs were also thrown up for discussion.
Staff give sessions the thumbs-up
The POWER sessions provide a good opportunity for URA staff to interact
with and understand their customers better. They also learn to look at the
guidelines from a different perspective.
The staff are eager to share their views. Said Ms Eliza Choo, who facilitated
the second POWER session, “It was a great opportunity for us to engage
our customers, and a fertile breeding ground for a healthy exchange of ideas.
I felt that the positive energy radiating from everyone was amazing, there
was so much synergy.”
Executive Planner John Jeffrey Greig said, “It was great to engage
in frank discussions with the participants about development control and
planning issues, and to share knowledge. There was a lot for us to gain
from the session and I found it a very good opportunity to reinforce
our good working relationship with our customers.” |
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By Chong Yiun Lin, URA
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“I
am pleasantly pleased with URA’s
genuine willingness to review all
opinions and suggestions with an
open mind, and more importantly,
make bold changes in response to
our views.” |
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“The
POWER session is very effective in
gathering views from the experts
in the construction industry rather
than allowing planners to devise
guidelines in isolation.” |
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