By Correspondent
A group of Harare residents has come out against Harare’s push for cluster houses arguing there is no sufficient infrastructure.
Ratepayers and Residents of Mount Pleasant, Groombridge, Arundel, Northwood, Vainona, Pomona say Council should upgrade first.
“As ratepayers and residents, we are concerned at the manner in which HCC has continued to recklessly approve densification and cluster developments with no guidelines and no concern for, or interests, on behalf of residents on the character of our suburbs, sewer lines, water, boreholes, roads, amenities, noise pollution, and crime.
“We recommend that HCC must include the views of current ratepayers and residents.”
The concerns of the residents also came up during the recent Cluster Housing Policy meeting in Harare.
Cluster Housing Policy
Council has been pushing for more cluster houses.
It argued that it no longer has land for outward expansion and now favours upwad growth.
Mayor Jacob Mafume said Harare is vertically short and needs to target that agenda.
With a population of over 2.4 million, about 16 percent of Zimbabwe’s population, the Harare metropolitan area is sprawling outwards.
However, residents have cited various concerns which they allege Council has ignored.
“We are therefore suspicious that this is just another ‘tick-box’ exercise for HCC to be able to record that they have consulted with residents.
“They will just continue with the adoption and implementation of a policy which does not take into account our concerns”.
The government has set a target to deliver 220,000 housing units by 2025 cooperating with the private sector.
