Gardening and nature enthusiasts in the west have a new place to explore: a 5,000 sq m urban farm with greenhouses at West Coast Park. City Sprouts @ West Coast is a project by the National Parks Board (NParks) and social enterprise City Sprouts. It features 33 greenhouse lots for horticulture activities, 41 gardening plots for the community to rent, play areas for children, and a cafe that uses produce grown on-site. Located at Area 2 near Carpark 2, this community urban farm is the first in a park created in collaboration with a social enterprise, as announced by NParks at the opening on June 1.
The farm, about two-thirds the size of a football field, was developed after City Sprouts received a grant from NParks’ Social Enterprise Community Urban Farm (Secuf) scheme, introduced in 2021. NParks has also released a tender for a second community urban farm at Pasir Ris Park. City Sprouts aims to transform underutilized spaces into community farms and engage seniors, at-risk youth, and people with special needs through sustainability projects. At the new West Coast farm, the focus will be on providing micro-employment opportunities and horticulture training, especially for people with autism, in partnership with Thye Hua Kwan Moral Charities.
The cafe at the farm will partner with social organizations to display artwork by low-income women, children with special needs, and former convicts. About 30 to 40 percent of the gardening plots, which measure 2.5m by 1m, can be rented for an annual fee of $240 for greenhouses and $210 for outdoor plots. Additionally, NParks will offer 194 allotment gardening plots for balloting from June 3 to 16, located in parks like Aljunied Park, Choa Chu Kang Park, and Pasir Ris Park. To date, over 2,400 allotment plots have been introduced in 28 parks across Singapore, and they are highly sought after. At the opening, National Development Minister Desmond Lee announced that West Coast Park will be enhanced into a “Destination Park” with unique features to attract visitors from all over Singapore, serving as the western gateway for the Greater Southern Waterfront.