Photo Credits to: Ng Cheng Mee
Fernvale residents will get a new, privately run sports and recreation hub beside Thanggam LRT by the first quarter of 2026, according to Jalan Kayu SMC MP Ng Chee Meng. The project—named Sports Arina—will house indoor pickleball courts, futsal courts, an indoor padel court, a children’s training pool and a multi-purpose hall.
Built for play—and quiet(er) nights
To address residents’ concerns about court noise, the facility will incorporate soundproofing measures. Plans include enclosing the pickleball hall and adding more trees around the perimeter to soften sound traveling into nearby blocks.
This design choice follows a year of heightened scrutiny on community-court noise. Several town councils have limited pickleball play or locked hard courts after 9:00 p.m., citing complaints from nearby residents; Mountbatten, Marine Parade–Braddell Heights, East Coast and Ang Mo Kio were among the estates introducing tighter hours.
Between January 2024 and August 2025, Singapore’s Municipal Services Office logged 701 complaints related to pickleball noise in HDB estates, according to a written reply by Minister for National Development Chee Hong Tat. Current guidelines advise quiet hours from 10:30 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.
The timing also answers growing demand: a recent petition gathered more than 1,200 signatures to extend HDB-court play from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., underscoring the need for more indoor inventory that doesn’t disturb neighbors.
Photo Credits to: Ng Cheng Mee
Why this matters for players and neighbors
- Enclosed pickleball hall: Indoor, air-conditioned play reduces the sharp, high-frequency “pop” from paddle-ball contact that often draws complaints in dense housing estates
- Greening buffer: Additional trees help diffuse ambient sound before it reaches nearby flats.
- Private operator model: A privately run site can extend usable hours and scheduling while keeping noise contained indoors—key for working adults who can only play before or after office hours.
Sports Arina’s arrival signals a practical evolution for racket-sport infrastructure in dense neighborhoods: move the action indoors, engineer for quiet, and keep play accessible for families and working adults. If the enclosed hall and landscape buffer perform as intended, Fernvale could become a model for balancing Singapore’s booming pickleball demand with liveability standards—proof that growth and good neighbors can share the same court.
