City of Harare boundaries extended
Herald, Tuesday, July 13, 2010
By Michael Chideme
THE City of Harare’s boundaries have been extended following the incorporation of 28 farms previously under Mazowe and Goromonzi rural district councils.
The 28 farms, with close to 21 000 hectares of land, will be developed mainly for residential purposes.
The incorporation means that all developments on the farms are now subject to approval by Harare City Council.
The additional farms will result in additional wards and possibly more parliamentary constituencies under Greater Harare.
Housing construction is ongoing at some of the farms such as Rumani Estates (Charlotte Brooke) and Acorn.
More farms will be acquired to meet the rising demand for housing and industrial growth.
The council committee on environment management met on July 2 to deliberate on Government’s offer and agreed to accept 27 farms from Mazowe RDC and another from Goromonzi.
“The Greater Harare municipal boundaries be altered by incorporation of the tracts of land listed in the table below,” read part of the committee meeting resolutions.
A full council meeting scheduled for the end of July is expected to officially adopt the resolution and make it binding.
The lands are Mgutu, Ingleborough, Esk Bank, Calgary, Lot 1A Thorn Park, Lot 1 Thorn Park Estate, Teviotdale A, Teviotdale1A, Teviotdale
2 and 3 and Teviotdale.
Others are Buckland Estate, Welston Township, Riet Poort Georgie, Sunray, Killarney, Rumani, Nijo, Charika Extension of Borrowdale, Happy Valley Estate, Lot J of Borrowdale, Acorn, Echo Farm, Lot1A Chakoma, Chakoma Estate B, The Springs and Stuhm.
All these farms were under Mazowe Rural District Council with the exception of Caledonia Farm, which fell under Goromonzi.
The committee recommended that council advise the Local Government, Rural and Urban Development Ministry of its acceptance of the farms and request expedition of the statutory requirements.
At its full council meeting in April this year, the council resolved to approach Government to acquire peri-urban land for residential purposes.
Town clerk Dr Tendai Mahachi wrote to the Government requesting incorporation of 72 properties, mainly farms, around Harare.
The national housing backlog stands at over one million family units against an urban population estimated to be increasing at a rate of between 6 and 7 percent annually.
The huge backlog is a result of increased rural-urban migration, the high cost of building materials, shortage of housing finance, unaffordable mortgages and lack of capacity by many councils to deliver accommodation.