Penang Gerakan has slammed the state government for its new housing guidelines which will see an increase in building density from 87 units per acre to 128 units per acre.

Similar concerns have also been raised by residents affected by the high density on the island.

"Is the increase of density beneficial to Penangites?" state Gerakan Youth acting chief Jason Loo asked at a press conference today.

"Besides affecting the people's quality of life, more housing units will mean more vehicles and therefore increasing traffic congestions in the surrounding areas," Loo said.

"We urge the state government to formulate a proper and comprehensive plan, which includes proper traffic management and dispersal, before introducing the new guidelines," Loo said.

He also gave a demonstration on how higher density would impact Penangites.

He staked plastic containers and foams as comparison of density between 30 units per acre - as per the Penang Structure Plan gazetted in 2007 during BN's time - and 87 units per acre as introduced by the DAP-led government in 2010.

Each plastic container was filled with pink foams representing residents and yellow foams representing the cars of a family.

'State fine-tuning the guidelines'

In November, state local government, traffic management and flood mitigation committee chairperson Chow Kon Yeow said the state was in the process of fine-tuning the guidelines.

However, developers would still have to comply with the same requirements, such as having traffic impact assessments and contributions for public amenities, Chow added.

Loo said the Penang government did not include the new increase of density from 87 units per acre to 128 units per acre in the Penang Structure Plan 2020 Review Report.

He echoed concerns that the state government had failed to gazette the local area plans since 2008.

"Many suspect that the state government does not want to gazette the local plans so that it can increase density as it likes, without breaching any development rules," Loo said.

He went on to ask if the Penang government was planning to develop the state until it becomes as congested as Hong Kong.

"If not, why are we seeing a building density increase of more than four-fold in the space of six years?

"In 2010, the density allowed for development was as low as 30 units per acre, " he added.