The Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has turned down a proposal for a joint housing project with a private developer for 77 stands in the Selborne Park low density suburb, arguing that the selling price will be too high for the market.
According to last week’s council report, the local authority is making an about turn on a 2008 resolution to enter into a partnership with Moledi Investments (Private) Limited to develop the 77 stands in the suburb.
At the local authority’s full council meeting, the city fathers resolved that “the proposal by Moledi for a joint venture with council in servicing 77 stands in Selborne Park be not acceded to and instead 77 stands in Selborne Park be sold by council to beneficiaries on a pre-sell basis subject to the usual conditions”.
In an interview with NewsDay yesterday, town Clerk Middleton Nyoni said: “Council has taken a decision and that’s it. That’s all I can say.”
The Town Lands and Planning committee had noted that if the local authority had pushed forward with the joint venture, the stands’ retail price would have been far beyond the reach of many.
“The servicing costs of $15 165 per stand were high and it might be difficult to dispose of the stands taking into account that these stands average 2 000 square metres and one hectare stands were selling at about $15 000,” the report said.
“The project with 77 stands was small for partnership, considering the high costs. Partners might not be able to realise profits.”
The BCC last year resolved to take back the responsibility of providing housing to people by servicing stands and selling them directly to home seekers on the waiting list due to shoddy service by a number of private developers.
