Online Reporter
Diana Nherera
Norton Town Council has announced that it has adopted the National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2) as it seeks to create a prosperous and empowered upper-middle-income society by 2030.
Norton Town Council’s acting public relations officer, Mr Leeroy Kaponda, said they have also developed their own vision statement, which entails a smart municipality with an empowered and prosperous community by 2030.
“Our mission is to provide quality and affordable services to our clients and to promote development and collaboration with all stakeholders.
“In crafting the 2026 to 2030 strategic plan, we made every effort to set targets in line with the minimum service delivery standards adopted by all local authorities in November last year.
“In 2026, our annual plan is set to focus on several key projects aimed at ensuring quality and affordable service,” he said.
Mr Kaponda indicated that this year, Norton Town Council is targeting to initiate the formal processes of applying for municipal status from the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works to understand some of the requirements they have not yet met, although they have guidelines on what they are expected to achieve.
“This year, one major programme we are focusing on is ensuring we begin the processes of applying to be a municipality.
“Additionally, we have acquired a fire tender and an ambulance.
“We are also planning to construct a civic centre as part of the requirements,” he said.
Mr Kaponda noted that as a local authority established in 1994, Norton Town Council believes it should be classified as a municipality.
He mentioned that Norton Town Council is looking forward to procuring service delivery equipment, including traffic vehicles, to effectively manage congestion at the Katanga shopping centre, which is not reflective of the standards expected of a town like Norton.
“We are looking to procure vehicles so that municipal police can effectively control traffic at Katanga and other areas surrounding Norton.
“We are also planning to acquire some vehicles for the roads section to enable us to carry out road maintenance,” he said.
