New multi-storey driving school proposed in CCK to replace Bt Batok Driving Centre

A new multi-storey driving school will be built in Choa Chu Kang Way if plans to rezone a site near Kranji Camp III are approved.

This "next-generation driving centre" will replace the existing Bukit Batok Driving Centre (BBDC), which is expected to make way for new housing projects, said the Singapore Police Force (SPF) on May 5.

The Traffic Police is responsible for licensing and regulating driving schools here.

If the plans for the site - located across a canal from the Sungei Kadut industrial estate - are approved, this will be Singapore's second multi-storey driving school, after the Singapore Safety Driving Centre (SSDC) opened the first in Woodlands in 2010.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said in a notice published on April 4 that it proposed to the Minister for National Development that the reserve site in Choa Chu Kang be rezoned for "transport facilities". The window for any objections to be made closed on May 3.

The SPF said more details about the new driving centre will be provided when ready.

BBDC, which sits on a 30,000 sq m plot in Bukit Batok West Avenue 5, opened in 1990. Across its various courses, it has more than 20,000 students a year.

While the BBDC site has been zoned for housing, the driving centre's lease was extended several times after it expired in 2018 - most recently until Dec 31, 2028.

There is no word yet on when the land occupied by BBDC will be redeveloped, but there are some hints that this could be in the 2030s.

One clue is that the HomeTeamNS clubhouse in Bukit Batok, located next to the driving school, will be replaced by a new clubhouse in Tengah that is expected to be ready by 2031.

Meanwhile, the new Brickland MRT station on the North-South Line, which is being built just north of BBDC, is set to open in 2034 - another indication that new housing developments nearby could be ready around the same time.

"Definitely, we are interested in the site at Choa Chu Kang Way," said BBDC general manager Ang Koh Kwee, in response to queries from The Straits Times on May 6.

"We will need more information before we can comment," he added, noting that a government tender to lease out the land will need to be called after it is rezoned.

As for the two other learner driving centres in Singapore, they will remain at their current locations for the time being.

URA and the police told ST that SSDC has a 30-year lease on its Woodlands premises that will expire on March 16, 2036.

SSDC had secured the 25,000 sq m site in 2005 with a bid of $6.67 million. It later moved from Ang Mo Kio to the Woodlands location in 2010, where it is now operating a full-scale multi-storey driving circuit - South-east Asia's first.

ComfortDelGro Driving Centre also has an ongoing lease on its 28,000 sq m site in Ubi, which it took over in 1996 from what was then the Kampong Ubi Test Centre.

Similar to what happened with BBDC, ComfortDelGro's tenancy was extended several times after it expired, with the latest extension lasting until Dec 31, 2027.

In 2015, URA had told ST that it was studying possible replacement sites for BBDC and ComfortDelGro Driving Centre, and that it would consider extending the leases on their current sites until the replacement sites are ready.

According to URA's latest 2019 masterplan, ComfortDelGro's Ubi plot is zoned for light industry use.

• Kok Yufeng is a transport correspondent at The Straits Times.