Following my last update,
http://www.rajiv4malaysia.com/2012/11/grand-dorsett-court-case.html

The most recent court hearing was 4th February 2013, where Mayland has applied to strike out MPSJ's amended statement of claim. (The date for this hearing to strike out is not known yet)

MPSJ has applied to amend the statement of claim, upon discovering new information with the building plan application and approval, which we believe will strengthen our case.


Some background info to this case:
http://www.rajiv4malaysia.com/2012/07/grand-dorsett-dorsett-place-waterfront.html

I have first called for this more than half a year ago, when the construction works started, as there are lots of people wanting to know more about the LRT construction and finished product. For it to be useful, the info center must be equipped with:

• Detailed information of the LRT extension tracks and station locations
• Visual/Artist Impressions of the station, especially including the actual surrounding buildings, for people to have a better and easy understanding of what will be coming up
• Traffic diversion plans for construction, including phase by phase 
• Utility (Electricity, Water, Telecomunications) interruption schedule, for all the utility relocating works. 
• Construction schedules
• Commitments by Prasarana with due dates, i.e. road resurfacing schedules

We have been informed that Mayland (the owner of Grand Dorsett Waterfront) has filed its defence to Court. MPSJ is in the midst of preparing its reply, and the case management will be on Dec 10, 2012.
MPSJ has frozen the demolition of the multistorey car park, which is crucial for Mayland to start construction until the court case is over.

Tackling Parking and Traffic Problems

by Rajiv Rishyakaran First of all, I’d like to take this opportunity to wish all Subang Jaya residents a Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, and to our Muslim brothers and sisters, Selamat Hari Raya Haji. This year we have seen among the many neighbourhood celebrations, one jointly organized by the Bomba, Police, Subang Jaya Community Fire Brigade, Summit USJ & MPSJ. This is certainly something new, and with a good turnout and community support, we hope to see it return next year.  Another thing we can all be proud of, that in all these Tanglung celebrations, we see a gathering of all races, coming together to celebrate and fellowship with one another.  Grand Dorsett Development As an update to development & sales of the Grand Dorsett Waterfront Hotel Suites (or service apartments), MPSJ has filed a case in court, seeking a declaration that the development was approved solely for the expansion of hotel facilities, and not to be sold as residential units. This move was made after consulting 2 legal firms, to ensure that MPSJ positions the case right, to uphold the spirit of the approval that was initially granted in October 2010. A Challenging Parking Problem Parking problems within the commercial areas are somewhat straightforward to resolve. In most cases, continuous enforcement is all that is needed. But what is truly challenging, is the spillover of commercial parking into adjacent housing areas. A number of our commercial areas are adjacent to housing areas, especially in SS15. Often, this would tempt visitors to the commercial centers to park in front of houses, causing inconvenience to the residents. Not only do they make it difficult for the residents to park their own car (as we know most houses can’t fit all their cars within the gate), sometimes these visitors park irresponsibly, blocking gates, or narrowing the road, making it difficult for others to pass through. One solution for this problem is for each resident to apply for the MPSJ sticker. This MPSJ sticker that cost RM3, is used to identify local residents, and makes it possible for MPSJ to take enforcement action on those causing inconvenience.  The challenge with this, however, is getting the cooperation of all local residents to apply for the sticker. One area that I’m working with closely on this is the SS15 Hexagon area (SS15/6), which is nearest to Taylors University. Tackling Sri KL Traffic Congestion I have recently met with Sri KL’s CEO, En Hanif Othman Merican with some of my JKP members to look into resolving the traffic problem we have on Persiaran Kewajipan every afternoon (on school days). Some misunderstandings between them and MPSJ in the past have been clarified, and I’m glad we were able to brainstorm a few alternatives, that would enable parents to pick up their children, as well as not congest Persiaran Kewajipan. These ideas require a little bit of further study, and we will be meeting Sri KL again in a few weeks time to see what might be feasible in moving forward.  I look forward to sharing more on this soon.

I am writing this post to clarify my personal stand on Dorsett Place Waterfront Development, that is one of the hottest issues in the spotlight in Subang Jaya. 


For those who are not familiar with the background of this, you can refer to the article extracted from the Selangor Times below. 


The crux of the issue is this: Under the development order (KM by the Malay acronym), Mayland (the developer) is allowed to build and renovate 1,989 units of hotel suites as an extension of their hotel in SS12.  But residents and councillors have objected to the development after the developer advertised to sell these units as serviced apartments.


MPSJ has twice in the past rejected their application to build service apartments. The rejection is particularly clear in the 2nd rejection, where it is stated in Borang C2, the reasons for rejection, is "no service apartments is allowed".


My personal position on the matter is that the spirit of the approval must be upheld. The transformation of hotel suites (noted in their application is stated at 1989 bilik) to the current service apartments (as even derived from their sales material http://www.iproperty.com.my/developments/2403/Dorsett_Place_Waterfront/) must be stopped and reversed. 


I have spoke up on this matter in the MPSJ June full board meeting (my first full board meeting after making a comeback to MPSJ) i raised this matter at length, as covered by press. I also have pushed (successfully) that all further ancillary applications, like the Landscape Plan must be put on hold until we have resolved the KM issue. 


There is one other approval that is pending, the demolition permit for the car park unit. I have no qualms stating openly that I will fight to ensure that these 2 permits are not given, until we have resolved the KM issue. 

I am also very disappointed that the Minister for Housing & Local Government can allow a a housing sale license to be issued, when MPSJ's KM approval clearly states hotel suites. Y.B. Dato' Seri Chor Chee Heung must not shy away from taking responsibility for this mistake, and do the necessary, at the very least to suspend the sale license, if not revoke it.
 
More news articles on the matter:
http://www.selangortimes.com/index.php?section=news&permalink=20120629104426-resolve-development-order-first-says-councillor
http://www.nst.com.my/streets/central/suspend-sale-of-hotel-suites-1.89961
http://www.mmail.com.my/story/councillor-against-hotel%E2%80%99s-landscaping-application

YDP Dato' Asmawi clarifying that the the hotel units are not for sale
http://www.mmail.com.my/story/hotel-rooms-not-sale

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Article in the Selangor Times, June 29th, 2012



Published: Fri, 29 Jun 2012

(as appeared in SJ Echo March 2012)

On the 13^th of February, with much fanfare, MPSJ launch the drafts for the MPSJ local plan amendments. For those who are not familiar, the local plan is the ultimate town planning document, detailing out what can and cannot be built on each and every parcel of land in Subang Jaya. The plan was first mooted in 2007, and had come into force in March 2010.

We often hear complaints of overdevelopment, and the lack of consultation between the government and residents with regards to new development permission being granted. Some of feel that Subang Jaya is already overdeveloped. Others may feel that it can do with more development, or maybe requires more of a specific kind of development.

Whatever your views are, I think it’ll be good for all of us to take a look at the amendments and share our feedback, especially if they are any objections. For the first time, the document is available online, downloadable from MPSJ’s website. Previously, you would have to go and buy a copy of the book.

Some key points, that I think all of us should be aware off, is

1. The proposal to increase the plot ratio (building density) from 4 to 6, for PJS9, PJS11, SS15, SS16, USJ1 and USJ21. While condition for plot ratio 6 is that they achieve “Gold Green Building” status, I must note that no amount of green building will ease the possible 50% increase in traffic volume that will arise from these developments. In order to propose an increase of plot ratio, MPSJ should conduct comprehensive traffic studies and produce an infrastructure upgrading plan on how it will cope. In fact, if at all MPSJ will allow increase of plot ratio, it should be within the 250m to 500m radius from each LRT station, not in areas like Sunway, that is already super congested and far from any LRT station.

2. The conversion of selected industrial lots in SS13 and USJ1 into commercial lots. I personally believe in time, we will phase out the industrial areas in Subang Jaya, due to rising land prices and changes in the economy position. However, random conversions, without putting in place the right supporting infrastructure are just going to breed congestion. Both USJ1 and SS13 are old areas, which should be redesigned properly before allowing commercial redevelopment. Note, once you redevelop, putting in place the infrastructure after that is not easy, and not cheap.

3. Currently day care operations are not permitted in commercial premises. I personally feel that it should be allowed. Having day care centers near offices, shopping areas, or commercial districts will ease the chance or parents dropping and picking the kids before and after work, as well, as possibility visiting the kids during lunch or other breaks. This will also reduce the problem of objection from neighboring houses which day care centers currently all operate from.

These are just among the few items, I’m sure each of us will have different opinions. But regardless of what your opinion is, this is your chance, as a resident of Subang Jaya, to official record your views. Your objections/support for any of the proposed changes can make a difference. Let us not waste this opportunity to engage MPSJ.

The approval given, as stated in the story below is by the Department of Railways (DOR). Any railway projects needs to get approve from the DOR. But before any construction can begin, the owner (in this case Prasarana) also needs to get Planning Permission (Kebenaran Merancang) from the local authorities. 

Prasarana given approval to build LRT lines

By LIM CHIA YING
chiaying@thestar.com.my

The natural progression of the life of a piece of land is normally originally forest. Then, when man first steps into it, it becomes agricultural land, from vegetable planting to rubber and palm oil.

Then, after a while, that land is likely to be converted into housing and industrial. Subang Jaya was once an estate, now a thriving township.

But why halt the conversion of land from agriculture to residential and commercial purposes?

1. Land is limited. We have seen KL spread out to PJ years ago, then to Subang Jaya, now onwards to Kemuning, Bkt Jelutong, Setia Alam, Rawang shows that the trend of development is to build low, and spread out. If this continues, eventually we'll run out of forrest.
2. Preservation of water catchment areas. Selangor is running out of water. We are now building a multibillion pipeline from Pahang to meet out water needs. The further back we push our forest, the worse this scenario is going to be.
3. Inefficiency of land use. There are many old, worn out housing and industrial areas that need to be rejuvenated. However the task of doing so is made difficult economically if we keep opening up more land for low cost terrace housing.
4. Increased cost in providing public service. If we build townships spread out, cost of providing services such as roads, drainage, garbage collection, etc.
5. Massive traffic jams that we see today throughtout the Klang Valley that we today is partially a result of this. When the township is spread out, its hard to provide efficient public transport, and everyone uses cars.
6. Redevelopment to fix previous town planning mistakes. A lot of existing townships were not properly planned. As a result of that, there is lack of proper open spaces, recreational opportunities, places of worships, public services such as government hospitials, fire stations, etc. Redeveloping townships can bring corrections to this mistakes and improvements to our quality of life.

As with point #3, redevelopment is more expensive than building on agriculture land. By freezing the conversion of agriculture land, developers will be encourage to redevelop existing townships, under the leadership and guidance of the state authority.