Victoria Falls masterplan open to scrutiny

VICTORIA Falls City Council has completed the crafting of a new masterplan and opened it for scrutiny with priority being put on balancing conservation and infrastructure development.

The move buttresses President Mnangagwa’s launch of the “Call to Action — No Compromise to Service Delivery” blueprint, which provides guidelines for local authorities to ensure they provide efficient services that are in line with Vision 2030.

In the “Call to Action,” the President chairs a bi-annual review meeting to assess the performance of all local authorities in a move aimed at improving service delivery in towns and cities.

All local authorities are now obliged to adhere to a stipulated minimum threshold of service delivery before the approval of their budgets.
According to the blueprint, the quality of service provision by local authorities should be in line with an upper-middle-income economy.

Most local authorities have been operating without masterplans while those that have, were reportedly using outdated local plans.
Victoria Falls City Council also successfully finished drafting its 2025 budget, which was presented to the full council recently as the local authority strives to meet deadlines and targets set by the Government.

Speaking to journalists, Victoria Falls town planner, Ms Ntombizami Ncube, said the guiding document was now open to public scrutiny.

“Our masterplan is now a public exhibition. We have already advertised two issues and we are waiting for the third issue,” she said.

“We started last year and managed to meet the deadline of June 30. It was submitted to the Department of Spatial Planning for review and put on public exhibition.

“The masterplan will be on public exhibition for the next two months and we request all stakeholders to visit the Victoria Falls Town Planning offices or our website, all the documents are there for viewing.

“Issues that came out was the need to balance conservation of nature and development planning needs. We would want to expand, we don’t want to encroach into any restricted zones, especially the World Heritage Site, we are not touching,” she said.

Victoria Falls City is surrounded by Chamabondo National Park, Zambezi National Park and Victoria Falls National Park, which is home to the Mighty Victoria Falls, one of the natural wonders of the world.

The city was declared a Unesco World Heritage site and should be maintained in its pristine state with no disturbance to the natural environment, emphasising harmony between nature and humans.

Tourism, backed by wildlife and the environment is the cornerstone of Victoria Falls’ economy. Ms Ncube said after the display period and objections on the masterplan, a summary will be compiled and a report on the recommendations of the local authority prepared. These will be sent to the Ministry of Local Government, which will review the document for approval.

“The minister will approve and it will go on display for six weeks and during that period only issues that deal with issues of law will be dealt with. If it is felt that the document was done ultra vires then the issues will be dealt with,” said Ms Ncube.

Victoria Falls town clerk, Mr Ronnie Dube, said the local authority tried to do its processes timeously to maintain good governance.

“We are on time in terms of meeting the deadline. Technically, we can say our masterplan has been completed and this means we are a compliant local authority, particularly regarding the direction and instruction guidance, which we get from our parent ministry because when you look at the masterplan, it speaks to the ‘Call of Action’ and no compromise to service delivery as espoused by President Mnangagwa,” he said. — @ncubeleon

Source: Victoria Falls masterplan open to scrutiny (05/11/24)