In our equatorial climate, any vacant land will be richly vegetated in no time and many people seem to think such a space is automatically their green belt.
Many have been trekking and trespassing on the land for their exercises, thinking they have a right to continue trespassing. How selfish.Â
Development proposals have to be designed based on rules and regulations and, if the submissions are within these limits, these should be approved as a matter of course, recognising the rights of the landowner to develop his land.
The authorities should not heed the protests of those who had bought their property with the knowledge that the neighbouring land would be developed in the future. This is especially so when the township has a master plan and all the land usage has been predetermined.
The latest protest against a Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) station to be built in Ara Damansara is a case in point. The land for TNB use has already been part and parcel of the township's master plan.
There is constant need for more buildings to house our growing population; we have to accept that we need to live with higher densities to keep housing affordable. Compact high-density living is the trend if we are to reduce unproductive travelling time and pollution, as well as making public transport and infrastructure sustainable and viable.
The reality is that as we urbanise, there will be higher density developments. The old Nimby (Not In My Backyard) attitude has to be discarded or we may become a Banana (Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone) nation.
