New local plan for Ipoh in the making

Concubine Lane in Ipoh is one of the more popular spots among tourists located in Ipoh Old Town . — filepic

IPOH City Council will start a study on a new local plan for the city in January.

The new Ipoh Local Plan 2035 will replace the Ipoh Local Plan 2020 and Ipoh Heritage Tin City Special Area Plan 2020 that were gazetted in 2012 and 2014 respectively.

City council secretary Mohd Zakuan Zakaria said the new plan would create a guideline to turn Ipoh into a sustainable, competitive and liveable city.

“We will work with the Town and Country Planning Department (PLANMalaysia) to come up with the new plan.

“It could take about a year or more but we hope to have the plan ready by 2020,” Mohd Zakuan said after the city council full board meeting.

He added that they would employ consultants and call selected focus groups to discuss the new plan.

“We will compile these and publish a draft to get the public’s opinion and feedback,” he said.

The need to replace Ipoh Local Plan 2020 was first mentioned by former mayor Datuk Harun Rawi in 2015.

Harun said an updated plan was important to reflect the (changing) times.

Mohd Zakuan said various city planning aspects would be discussed, including land usage, infrastruc­ture, transportation, tourism, landscaping and environment conservation.

“An important aspect we need to look into is the walkability factor in the city and we will talk about building overhead pedestrian crossings, better walkways and safety aspects as well as the need for monorail or tram services in the city.

“We want to see if these are viable, although the monorail services will surely be expensive,” he said.