2 new town councils formed in Jalan Kayu & Punggol after GE2025, 19 town councils in total

19 Town Councils have been formed by the Ministry of National Development (MND) on May 30, following the conclusion of GE2025, in accordance with the Town Councils Act 1988.

Under the Act, elected MPs are to form a Town for their own constituency, or by grouping up to three constituencies together to form a Town, which will be managed by the Town Council.

2 new town councils

The Town Councils announced include two newly formed Town Councils, Jalan Kayu and Punggol Town Councils respectively.

Jalan Kayu Town Council

Jalan Kayu Town Council's establishment comes with the formation of Jalan Kayu Town, which comprises Jalan Kayu SMC.

This comes after Jalan Kayu SMC's split from Ang Mo Kio GRC to become a newly formed constituency in GE2025.

As Town Councils are limited to only cover a maximum of three constituencies, Ang Mo Kio Town Council, which Jalan Kayu was originally a part of, will now only cover Ang Mo Kio GRC, Yio Chu Kang SMC and Kebun Baru SMC.

Jalan Kayu SMC was contested and narrowly won by Labour Chief Ng Chee Meng on May 3 at the General Elections.

Jalan Kayu Town Council will be chaired by Ng, while Ang Mo Kio Town Council will be chaired by PAP's Henry Kwek, the two town councils announced in a press release.

Kwek will also be assisted by Minister of State (MOS) for Education and MOS for Digital Development and Information Jasmin Lau, as well as Darryl David as Vice-Chairs.

Ng assured Jalan Kayu residents in the press release that "there will be no disruption to their municipal services nor any changes in Service and Conservancy Charges (S&CC) as a result of the town council changes".

Jalan Kayu SMC residents who pay their S&CC in cash will have to manually switch to paying the Jalan Kayu Town Council when it takes over the management on Aug. 1, while GIRO or recurring credit card payments will be seamlessly transferred to the Jalan Kayu Town Council and does not require action from residents, according to the press release.

Kwek has also reaffirmed that "Jalan Kayu will continue to be part of the extended Ang Mo Kio family" and that both town councils will work together to co-organise joint events.

Jalan Kayu's permanent Town Council location has yet to be confirmed.

Punggol Town Council

Punggol Town Council will be established with the formation of Punggol Town, comprising Punggol GRC, which was contested and won by the four-member PAP team led by Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong on May 3.

Punggol was formerly a part of the Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council, but will become an independent Town Council following Punggol GRC's formation in GE2025.

12 reconstituted town councils

Of the remaining 17 Town Councils, 12 were reconstituted due to changes in electoral boundaries during GE2025, which has resulted in some inter-transfer of areas between Towns.

This includes East Coast Town Council, whose East Coast GRC absorbed the Joo Chiat ward of the former Marine Parade GRC, and transferred part of its Siglap ward to the newly created Pasir-Ris Changi GRC.

Aljunied-Hougang Town Council is also among those to be reconstituted.

In GE2025, its WP-held Aljunied GRC transferred some districts of its Bedok Reservoir ward to the Tampines West ward of Tampines GRC.

Four of the reconstituted town councils will also see a name change:

• Jurong-Clementi Town Council will be renamed Jurong-Clementi-Bukit Batok Town Council
• Marine Parade Town Council will be renamed Marine Parade-Braddell Heights Town Council
• Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council will be renamed Pasir Ris-Changi Town Council
• West Coast Town Council will be renamed West Coast-Jurong West Town Council

5 unchanged Town Councils

The remaining five town councils, namely Bishan-Toa Payoh, Marsiling-Yew Tee, Nee Soon, Sembawang and Sengkang Town Councils, will have unchanged town boundaries and names.

All town councils will have up to 90 days, from May 30 to Aug. 1, to complete the transfer of management of areas to be transferred.

An earlier take-over date than Aug. 1 may also be mutually agreed upon between town councils, during which affected residents will be informed.

Top image by Ang Mo Kio Town Council/Facebook