Suburban
SOME Ward 8 residents have approached the Councillor for the area Mr Keith Charumbira to voice their concern over the failure to hold a stakeholders’ meeting to discuss the proposed Cardinals Shopping Complex earmarked to be developed at the corner of Harare Drive and ED Mnangagwa Road (formerly Enterprise Road).
Suburban Reporter
“Dear Councilor Charumbira, I trust that you and your family are well. On the 30th November 2022 I drew your attention to the fact that a previously promised stakeholders meeting on the proposed Cardinals / Harare Drive shopping Mall / service station, had not yet taken place. You promised to provide a date for the mandated meeting. Up till now I have not yet heard from you. Some residents noticed that the last time the developer acted without properly notifying residents it was during a holiday break. Please may we the residents have your assurances that a stakeholders meeting will be called with proper notice being given to affected residents and not during the festive season break? Thanking you in advance for your assistance in this matter,” wrote the concerned residents.
Councillor Charumbira apologised to the residents over the delays in holding the meeting and promised to take up the matter with the relevant City of Harare departments.
“Thank you let me finalise that with director of works. I am very sorry for (the) delay though, it’s an important (matter) to table for action,” Cllr Charumbira responded.
In August last year, the developers of Cardinals Shopping Complex at the corner of Harare Drive and Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa Road gave notice to residents and property owners of adjoining stands of their intention to build the complex housing a petrol filling station and a restaurant among other businesses.
According to the owners’ notice of an application to build the new complex, it will also house a convenience shop/mart, showrooms and sales shops and a hardware.
The new development called Cardinals Complex is earmarked on the consolidation of Lot 14, Lot 15 and Lot D of Colne Valley in Rietfontein (which is the corner of Harare Drive and ED Mnangagwa Road). The notice of the application was made in terms of Section 26 of the Regional, Town and Country Planning Act Chapter 29:12 as revised and as read with the provision of the operative Enterprise Development Corridor Local Development Plan Number 60.
“In terms of the Act we are required to advertise and give notice in writing to all abutting property owners before council decides on the application. In addition, we are required to submit proof to council that the notice has been delivered and received by you or your representative.
“In view of the statutory requirement, we would very much appreciate your assistance by signing item 1 (attached) as proof of your receipt of the notice for our onward submission to the City of Harare (if hand delivered) and proof of registered notice if delivered by post,” reads a letter by Development Studio Africa (Pvt) Ltd to property owners of the adjoining stands.
The letter was signed off by Development Studio Africa (Pvt) Ltd’s projects manager Mr Trymore Muderere writing on behalf of the owners of the stand on the corner of Harare Drive and ED Mnangagwa Road.
Mr Muderere advised residents and property owners that should they wish to register their concerns, they could lodge their comments, responses, input, feedback, objections or representations with the Local Planning Authority (City of Harare) on the address given on the bottom of the attached newspaper notice. The notice appeared in The Herald newspaper of July 20, 2022.
Development Studio Africa’s letter to residents also contained the public notice extract from The Herald newspaper of July 20, 2022, two forms of acknowledgement of notice for their signatures (one to be returned to Development Studio Africa for onward submission to the City of Harare as proof that they had complied with the statutory notification requirement and the one for their records if hand delivered and not to be returned if they receive a registered letter, a copy of the site plan illustrating the proposed development and an extract of the Surveyor General’s general plan indicating the position of their (residents’) properties in relation to the property concerned (stand earmarked for the new complex).
“We would very much appreciate your assistance by signing the attached acknowledgement of receipt form (do not sign if delivered by registered letter). Should you have any comment or queries please contact the undersigned,” read the letter from Development Studio Africa.
Reacting to the letter, Highlands residents felt there were already more than enough fuel filling stations in the area and also expressed concern over the traffic congestion the new developments will bring to ED Mnangagwa Road, which is already facing teething congestion calling for the widening of the major and busy road.
Residents were also worried over the feasibility of having busy shopping centres a few kilometres apart given the Cardinals Complex will be located just some kilometres from the newly opened Highland Park Mall at the corner of ED Mnangagwa Road and Arcturus Road.
They said the developers of these new business properties might, in future, be required to surrender parts of their stands for the widening of the road because ED Mnangagwa Road was planned to be a dual carriageway.
The residents further pointed out the environmental challenges of having fuel filling stations close to residential properties given the dangers of underground pollution, which might arise from leaking fuel tanks and the air pollution caused by living near a fuel filling station.
An example was given of a borehole which was drilled at a house along Glenara Avenue, which is next to a fuel filling station. The water from the borehole was found to be unsuitable for human consumption because of several years of underground tank leakages.
Harare recently reviewed local development plans to unlock and spur development. It identified various corridors which include the Enterprise Development Corridor to create clusters of retail, office, high rise residential apartments, hotels and lodges among other developments.
The other corridors are Avondale-Sam Nujoma Street, Harare Civil Aviation of Zimbabwe Aerotropolis Export Processing Zone, Venturesburg Export Processing Zone in Sunway along Mutare Road, the Samora Machel Avenue East-West and Mukuvisi.
