Kuala Lumpur: Residents of Taman Danau Desa will file a judicial review on the recently gazetted Kuala Lumpur Local Plan 2040 in an attempt to preserve their playground and a police station, both located on land that has been rezoned for the development of condominiums.
Lok Shi Shuen, who is part of a movement comprising residents from Taman Desa, said they decided to drag Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) to court after their protests and petitions fell on deaf ears.
The residents of Taman Danau Desa, a neighbourhood in Taman Desa, raised concerns earlier this year about excessive development in the area.
Lok, who has lived in Taman Danau Desa for 32 years, said the last straw was the move to fence up the playground, which is also home to a recycling centre and a community farm.
“Everyone was upset,” Lok told FMT, adding that the Tzu Chi recycling centre had helped raise awareness about the importance of recycling and featured a thrift shop of sorts that had attracted people from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds.
“It was a nice place that allowed us to understand a bit more about sustainable practices.”
According to the draft local plan, published in January last year, the Taman Danau Desa community playground was rezoned for high-rise residential developments.
Less than a month before the plan was gazetted, residents discovered that the plot of land on which the police station was located had been rezoned for the development of high-rise residential homes.
Lok claimed that the residents did not know they had lost their playground until two years after its alienation.
She said they only realised it after the playground was fenced off in 2019, forcing the recycling centre and the community farm to cease operations in that location.
“We can’t just lie down and do nothing about it. We must stand up for our green spaces and the land for our public amenities,” she said.
Lok and her fellow residents hope that a 2023 ruling by the apex court will help their cause.
Two years ago, the Federal Court struck out an appeal by DBKL to reinstate the proposed Taman Rimba Kiara development project.
The proposed project involved a 29-storey apartment block with 350 units of affordable housing, as well as eight blocks of serviced apartments and eight storeys of parking facilities.
The appellants, which included Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan and developer Memang Perkasa Sdn Bhd, were appealing against a decision by the Court of Appeal, handed down in 2021, in which it quashed a 2017 development order for Taman Rimba Kiara after ruling in favour of Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) residents in a judicial review appeal.
Lok’s movement has engaged the same law firm that represented the TTDI residents, and has until Aug 28 to raise the necessary funds.
“We’re not giving up, and we definitely have a chance to save our playground and our police station,” Lok said.
More information on the residents’ efforts is available at
www.protecttamandesa.org.
