Tengah's Plantation Grove Nov 2018 BTO Analysis: Which unit to choose?

A BTO development in Tengah was launched in the November 2018 sales exercise. Named Plantation Grove and housing a total of 1,620 units, it’s situated within the Plantation District, one of the five districts launched in the new town of Tengah. In a previous article, we wrote up a comprehensive guide on Tengah, checking out the upcoming features in this new Forest Town.

The site for Plantation Grove, taken on Dec 2018.

In today’s post, we’ll be zooming in on Plantation Grove itself, analysing the BTO site and its surrounding amenities while guiding you along with a series of considerations to see which unit you should pick if you are successful with your bid for the BTO. Quick glance at Plantation Grove:

Tengah's town map, courtesy of HDB.

  Before picking a unit, here’s what to consider:

THE BAD

Consideration 1: Noise from above-ground Jurong Region Line MRT

It has been announced that the MRT stations at the new Jurong Region Line would be above ground, so it’s likely that you will hear the trains whooshing by especially if you stay near the MRT lines. Going by the site plan, it’s likely that the blocks most affected by this would be 116A, 117A and 118A. This problem will only arise from 2027 onwards, when the tracks connecting across Tengah are ready.

Distance from nearest blocks to MRT track.

According to a report by The Straits Times, there will be sound barriers erected from the start to mitigate the noise pollution. In addition, the green buffer surrounding the BTO development would also help to reduce the noise impact, although how effective this remains to be seen (or heard).

Consideration 2: Proximity to human activity zones

People tend to congregate in areas where there are pavilions, shelters, playgrounds and fitness corners, most of which will be located on the landscape deck on top of the basement storey carpark. There will also be a 3-storey community club on the Plantation Grove site, which will likely see high human traffic. If you prefer a unit away from all that, avoid those areas marked out on the map below:

Units marked on this map are close to high human activity zones.

116A: 519, 517, 515, 513, 511, 509, 507, 505 116B: 553, 551, 549, 547 117A: 555, 557, 559 118B: 595, 593, 591 119A: 605, 603, 611, 613 119B: 623 119C: 653, 655, 639, 637 120A: 23, 25 120B: 49, 51 120C: 53, 55, 57 121A: 73, 75, 77, 79 121C: 103, 105, 107, 109

Consideration 3: Western sun

The impact of the afternoon sun comes from the west, or more precisely the north-west (March to September months) and south-west (September to March months) directions in Singapore. While there are ways to reduce the impact such as covering your windows with solar film or blasting the air-conditioning when you reach home, you can save quite a bit with a cooler flat. Avoid these units to minimise the impact of the western sun:

Units marked on this map are most likely to experience western sun.

116A: All units except 521, 523, 525, 527, 501 and 503 116B: 531, 529, 553, 551 117A: 565, 563, 561 118A: All units except 577, 575, 573, 571 118B: 591, 593, 595 119A: 605, 603, 607 119B: 631, 633, 619, 621 119C: 639, 641, 643, 645, 647, 649, 651, 659, 657 120A: 23, 21 120B: 51, 49 120C: 53, 55, 57 121A: 79, 77, 75, 73, 81, 83 121B: 95, 93, 91 121C: 103, 105, 107, 109, 111, 113, 115, 117 122A: 129, 127 122B: All units except 141, 139, 161, 159 122C: 167, 169

Consideration 4: Noise from proximity to Bukit Batok Road (major road leading to expressways)

Our site visit during a weekend showed that Bukit Batok Road is quite a busy road. Besides serving as an arterial road leading to the expressways, the area is also surrounded by numerous schools, so there’s bound to be heavy traffic during the weekdays.

View of Bukit Batok Road during a weekend on Dec 2018.

The green buffer surrounding Plantation Grove might help to alleviate traffic noise levels but if you want a quieter flat, avoid units facing Bukit Batok Road directly:

These units face Bukit Batok Road, a major road, directly.

118A: 577, 575, 573, 571 118B: 601, 599, 597 119A: 615, 617 121A: 71, 69, 67, 65 120C: 63, 61, 59 120B: 47, 45, 43, 41, 39, 37  

THE GOOD

Consideration 5: Proximity to neighbourhood centre

Tengah’s new car-free Town Centre is located at Park District. While Park District is just next to the Plantation District, Plantation Grove’s placement at the tip of the Plantation District might mean you have to travel quite some distance to the Town Centre. As such, your nearest retail amenities would probably be at Plantation District’s neighbourhood centre. The neighbourhood centre is located at another BTO site to the west of Plantation Grove. The site has yet to be launched by HDB so we won’t know the neighbourhood centre’s exact location. However, units to the west of Plantation Grove should gain the most convenience access. So if you want to be closer to the amenities, pick the blocks to the west of Plantation Grove: 119C, 122B and 122C, which are approximately 50 metres away from the site of the neighbourhood centre.

Consideration 6: Proximity to public transport

Proximity to the MRT station and the bus stop might be a bane, due to the higher noise levels, but it can also be a boon since you won’t need to walk as far to access them. If you value convenience and can overlook noise disturbance, look out for 119C and 116A to be closer to the MRT station and 118A and 118B to be nearer to the bus stop.

Consideration 7: Corner units with more privacy

This might not be a huge concern for some. But if you don’t like nosy neighbours looking into your unit while walking by either to reach the lifts or the rubbish chutes, you might want to pick these units:

These units marked out have more privacy, away from the prying eyes of your neighbours.

116A: 501, 521 116B: 529, 553, 551, 549 117A: 559, 565 118A: 587, 569 118B: 601, 595, 597 119A: 617 119B: 623 119C: 637, 639 120A: 25, 31 120B: 33, 37, 49 120C: 63 121A: 73, 79, 83, 65 121B: 95, 89 121C: 103, 97, 101 122A: 131, 137 122B: 143, 141, 159 122C: 173, 167 Do note that some corner units are quite a distance away from the lifts, you’ll do quite a bit of walking to reach your flat. Other things to note:

• For 3-, 4- and 5-room flats, some stacks come with balconies, so watch out for those if you’re keen to have one in your home.
• Not all blocks reach up to the 14th storey. Some stacks reach up only to the 8th floor, some to the 9th, some 11th or 12th. Take note when selecting your unit.
• You can also opt for a centralised cooling system for your home. This, according to HDB, means you won’t need to install and maintain outdoor condensing units on your air-con ledge. More details will be released during the flat selection exercise.
• Plantation Grove is among one of the furthest Tengah BTOs from the soon-to-be expanded Tengah Air Base. As such, air traffic noise shouldn’t pose too large of an issue in this BTO site.

All HDB sitemaps courtesy of HDB What other considerations do you take into account when choosing a BTO flat? Let us know in the comments!  

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