SINGAPORE - People living or working near the upcoming Pasir Panjang Park can now have a hand in its design and development.

National Development Minister Lawrence Wong met with more than 60 stakeholders consisting of residents, interest groups, companies and businesses in the vicinity of the park on Saturday (Jan 18) to discuss ideas for the space.

The group talked about how they wanted the park to look and came up with ideas on how to repurpose some items that port operator PSA Corporation will be donating, such as shipping containers and ship lamps.

The area of about nine hectares stretching from West Coast Park to Labrador Nature Reserve will be finished in phases, with the first section targeted for completion in 2021.

The park is part of government plans to rejuvenate the Greater Southern Waterfront area.

The engagement session on Saturday was the first of several that will be held.

It also marked the launch of the citizen park programme, where the community can work with the National Parks Board to co-create parks with facilities that meet their needs, said NParks on Saturday.

The programme is part of SG Together, a movement by the 4G leaders to get citizens to help shape policies that was announced by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat last June.

It is also an extension of the NParks Friends of the Parks initiative, which aims to promote the responsible use of parks.

The new programme will allow the community to participate as early as possible and at a higher level of commitment that NPark's previous engagement efforts.

More than 50 parks over the next five years will be included in this programme with the engagement process tailored to each park, according to the demographics and history of the locations, added the agency.

Some upcoming parks involved include the Tampines North Boulevard Park and Punggol Heritage Trail.