Redcliff to relocate CBD

REDCLIFF Town Council has revived plans to relocate its Central Business District (CBD) from its present location to a site along the Harare-Bulawayo Highway, the Mayor, Councillor Fred Kapuya, has said.

He said the ambitious project would be completed in 12 months.

Cllr Kapuya said the relocation would be set in motion with the construction of a giant shopping mall by a South African investor comprising supermarkets, office space, banks and other amenities associated with such developments.

He said council expects to have completely relocated all services to the new site by 2019.

"(Redcliff Town) Council has now set the ball in motion to relocate the CBD to the highway so that council can capitalise on revenue from travellers. We are close to sealing a deal with a South African company which will construct a mall and if all goes well the mall will be completed in the next 12 months which will mark the beginning of our relocation.

"We expect that major services as well as those offered by council will be at the new site in the next five years," said Cllr Kapuya. He said plans and designs of the new town site were already in place.

The Redcliff mayor, however, declined to reveal the identity of the investor arguing that he would do that after "all the loose ends had been tied up".

He said premature divulging of the council's investment partner in the CBD project would jeopardise the deal.  Sources within council say the deal was close to $6 million.

Cllr Kapuya said council was also in the process of vetting 30 applications including that of a Chinese property developer earmarked to develop the rest of the CBD away from the envisaged shopping mall.

"We have over 30 applications from local businessmen who want to develop stands at the new site and that of a Chinese investor who wants to set up another shopping mall.

"We are in the process of vetting the applicants because some people would want to hold on to stands for speculative purposes. We are on the lookout for such characters because this will derail our plans of having a fully fledged CBD by 2019," said the Redcliff mayor.

Cllr Kapuya said the recent activity at New Zimsteel, formerly Ziscosteel, had given his council hope that once the steel plant comes to life, it will create an economic boom and speed up the expansion of the town.