City master plan extension appeal turned down

Blessings Chidakwa and Peter Tanyanyiwa

Suburban Reporters

THE deadline for all local authorities to have masterplans, functional enterprise resource planning, and full valuation rolls by June 30 as directed by the President still stands, as the Government makes no compromise on service delivery.

Harare residents had appealed to Government to grant the City of Harare (CoH) an extension to allow the local authority more time to craft its master plan and take into account concerns and proposals of all interested stakeholders.

President Mnangagwa in November last year launched the blueprint: “Call to action: no compromise to service delivery.”

It provides guidelines that local authorities had to follow to ensure that they provided efficient services in line with the country’s quest to achieve a middle-income economy by 2030.

Speaking during an interactive meeting with all 92 local authorities, both urban and rural, Local Government and Public Works Minister Daniel Garwe said the President advised him that his deadline still stands.

“As the June deadline is around the corner now, all local authorities should strive to achieve the indicated milestones. We have no appetite to extend the deadline. June 30 remains the deadline unless there are serious circumstances.

“Globally we have no appetite to go beyond the June 30 deadline. It is not my message but one coming from His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe,” he said.

According to the blue-print the President will be chairing a bi-annual review meeting to assess the performance of all local authorities in a move aimed at averting the deteriorating service delivery in towns and cities.

Residents felt if the process was rushed, it would not achieve the desired outcomes. Residents were particularly worried about the need for the municipality to consult them.

The residents made the plea at a meeting to discuss the master plan with the municipality.

Subsequently, the City of Harare held a special council meeting on Monday to update councillors and the media about their intention to file an application to the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works, appealing for more time on behalf of the residents.

The City of Harare had expressed its readiness to meet the initial June 30, 2024 deadline but acknowledged residents’ request for an extension so that their concerns are taken into account.

Council resolved at Monday’s special meeting to approach the Government to extend the deadline for the production of the master plan by at least one month.

The decision was made in response to the residents’ plea to hold extensive consultations and ensure a comprehensive and inclusive process. Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume called an urgent special full council meeting to deliberate on the matter, where the decision to seek an extension was made.

Councillor Mafume said he is confident in the city’s ability to meet the Government deadline for the master plan but the extension would afford residents an opportunity to be involved in the process.

“We have the biggest planning department in the country with highly qualified personnel. The master plan is a deposit of the draft master plan, which will be open to the public for three months before it can be affected. We have done over five area plans in the interim, and those are being joined together to create one master plan. We have hired a consultant, and I am very confident that we will meet the deadline,” said Cllr Mafume.

He said council will convey the residents’ request for a deadline extension to the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works.

“We will be requesting a period of around 30 days, certainly not more than 60 days. That’s what the residents want. We are going to do a blitz in the residential areas and be ubiquitous in the face of all the residents, asking them what they want the land use and master plans for Harare to be, particularly regarding issues of traffic, rail, lighting, wastewater, sewer, and title deeds,” said Cllr Mafume.

The Mayor said council is committed to engaging with the residents in the planning process.

A master plan is a city’s main land use and development planning policy guide. It usually has a planning horizon period of at least 10 years. Master plans are expected to be reviewed every 10 years to remain relevant.

Harare is currently using a master plan that was prepared in the late 1980s and was approved to become operative 13 years later in 1993. The current master plan is now 30 years old meaning the many assumptions on which it was designed such as the deregulation of the transport sector, population increase and the economy, have changed.