Online Reporter
Diana Nherera
The City of Harare has thanked residents for their active participation in the preparation of the city’s masterplan, saying their submissions will help shape future development.
Speaking at a Highlands stakeholders’ feedback meeting held recently at Highlands District Office, City of Harare head of development control Mr James Mazvimba said residents had made substantial contributions to the draft masterplan.
“There was quite a hive of submissions from residents, which is what the council expects,” he said.
“Those submissions were quite substantive. The masterplan is with the Minister of Local Government.
“It hasn’t been approved. It’s still a draft until the minister has gone through it. When it comes back from the minister, it will go to the residents to look at whether the issues that were raised were properly captured by ourselves and whether they have been well articulated in the masterplan.”
Mr Mazvimba said the masterplan had not yet been approved and remained a draft pending consideration by the Minister of Local Government.
He said council was also working on local development plans to ensure all areas in Harare are covered by up-to-date planning frameworks.
“Much of this area is still covered by the old town planning schemes. The city desires that all areas must be covered by a local development plan,” said Mr Mazvimba.
“The advantage is a local development plan is current; it has some flexibility in it. That is the programme that our planning section is doing to ensure all areas, particularly this segment of the city; we only have Greendale, Enterprise, Borrowdale. But many of the pieces of land are still covered by the old schemes.”
