By Naome Boka
The City of Gweru has availed its master plan for public scrutiny in a document that outlines the city of progress roadmap for the next 20 years.
This comes amid indications that the city is set to expand its boundaries in line with the smart city concept.
Gweru City Council is part of the 86 local authorities that submitted their master plans to the parent ministry, meeting the June 30 deadline.
The document has been availed to the public for stakeholders to make their submissions on the proposed expansion plans.
The proposals include the expansion of the Central Business District (CBD) with all land on sideways of major highways now reserved for businesses in a move that will affect the Gweru Sports Club which will be moved to the outskirts of the CBD.
Suburbs like Woodlands and Hertfordshire, which were previously under the Vungu Rural District Authority, will now be under the jurisdiction of Gweru City Council according to the proposals in the master plan.
Gweru City Council Acting Town Clerk, Mr Livingston Churu said, “One of the proposals is to come up with a new CBD. You will also see some of the facilities being moved. One of the key issues is the issue of hotels. We are targeting to have three new hotels, and with us hosting the upcoming Cricket World Cup, we are going to take advantage of that to spruce up our city.”
The government is impressed by the growth trajectory that has been presented by the Gweru city fathers while urging stakeholders to add their input during this inspection stage.
“It’s now open for everyone, the business community, the church and residents should come and make their concerns known as directed by the President,” said Midlands Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Honourable Owen Ncube.
The Second Republic has emphasized the need for all the country’s 92 local authorities to come up with master plans that spell out their growth trajectory after it emerged that most of them were operating without blueprints which makes it difficult to monitor and implement their targeted growth projections.
