Where are the players? Free football hard courts mostly vacant as noise complaints, hot weather drive users to paid artificial turfs

Retiree Patanannadan Aspatraja, 73, who lives in the same neighbourhood, agreed with Mr Lee, saying that he normally sees the hard court being used for kickabouts only during the weekends, and occasionally on weekday evenings.

“Unless it is a school holiday, generally the usage rate on a weekday is really low,” Mr Aspatraja added.

“This could possibly be caused by the noise complaints from the residents. The noise level is normally boisterous when there are people playing and may travel up to high-rise floors.”

However, Madam Puteh Ahmad, 72, a housewife who has lived in the same neighbourhood for 45 years, said that there are usually sounds of balls being kicked and bouncing off the surrounding fence, but to her, it was not so bad that they warranted complaints.

She noted that the number of people playing at the Clementi court has halved since the recent pandemic, adding that it is now mainly used by children having kickabouts about once a week.

When contacted by TODAY, Jurong-Clementi Town Council said that this court has not been fully utilised primarily due to the demographic profile of residents in the area, which comprises mostly middle-aged and older residents.

“Recognising the importance of maintaining functional and safe communal spaces, the town council is committed to refurbishing the soccer court floor.

“With the refurbishment, we hope to enhance its appeal and attract more users, fostering social engagement and inter-generational connections,” it added.

The town council did not comment further when asked to elaborate on when the low utilisation began, what kind of social and inter-generational activities it is looking at, as well as the frequency and costs of refurbishing the court.

At the end of last year, the public use of a hard court was in the news. Some residents in Bedok North approved of a short-term closing of a football hard court not just because of the noise but because of inconsiderate users who dirty the place and occupy it for other purposes.

Member of Parliament Tan Kiat How, who is also Senior Minister of State for National Development, said at the time that residents’ profiles change, so their needs may be different and may prefer wanting inter-generational public space for them and their grandchildren.

IS COVID-19 PANDEMIC TO BLAME?

Over at another hard court in Aljunied Crescent, retail employee Nur Aisyah Afandy, 32, said that there were roughly at least two to three times more people using it about four years ago, before the pandemic struck.

Another Aljunied Crescent resident who gave her name as just Mrs Chong, 52, said that the younger generation might have gotten used to staying indoors since the pandemic.

This made the young turn more to playing with electronic gadgets, the housewife reckoned.