THE High Court has set aside a development permit issued for a proposed commercial office park in Borrowdale, ruling in favour of Trauma Centre Hospital and nearby residents who argued the project posed serious public health and safety risks.
High Court Judge Justice Tawanda Chitapi granted an application for review filed by Vislink (Private) Limited, trading as Trauma Centre Hospital, and local resident Penelope Beattie, nullifying a development permit issued by the City of Harare’s director of urban planning on 17 April 2025.
The application cited Condev Property Developers, the City of Harare’s director of urban planning, the City of Harare and Andrew Herbst as respondents.
“The application for review be and is hereby granted. The permit issued by the second respondent on 17 April 2025 in respect of the Borrowdale Estate development be and is hereby set aside,” Justice Chitapi ruled.
The judgment halts a proposed commercial development on Kingsmead Road that hospital management argued would undermine emergency healthcare services and fundamentally alter the character of the predominantly low-density residential neighbourhood.
In court papers, Trauma Centre Hospital proprietor Vivek Solanki said the proposed office park would introduce approximately 330 office workers into an area already struggling with inadequate infrastructure, including narrow roads, limited sewer capacity and unreliable municipal water supplies.
“The issue of extreme concern to us is that despite the narrow roads in the area, despite the lack of proper sewerage services and the complete lack of municipal water, Condev Property intends to develop a corporate office park with a capacity of approximately 330 office workers in 16 proposed units,” Solanki said in his affidavit.
He argued that the increased traffic and activity generated by the development would compromise access to one of Harare’s leading emergency trauma facilities, potentially endangering patients, ambulances and medical personnel.
Solanki told the court that the hospital had itself been required to obtain a change-of-use permit before commencing operations and had invested approximately US$120 000 to construct a sewer line linking the facility to the City of Harare’s main sewer network along Edinburgh Road in Pomona.
He said representatives of Condev Property Developers first approached him in October 2024 to outline plans to replace an existing residential property with a commercial office complex.
Following the proposal, Solanki and several residents lodged formal objections, arguing that the development was incompatible with the area’s zoning and existing infrastructure.
According to Solanki, Condev subsequently published a notice in a local newspaper on 15 October 2024 advertising its application for a development permit.
However, by mid-May this year, heavy construction machinery had already been moved onto the site, signalling the imminent commencement of works despite unresolved objections from residents.
After engaging the Ministry of Local Government, Solanki lodged a formal complaint, arguing that objectors had never been served with the development permit as required.
He further alleged that during a meeting convened by the ministry, officials produced a development permit whose accompanying plans differed from those approved earlier this year, raising further questions over the approval process.
“The applicants sought an undertaking that Condev Property would desist from commencing any development at the property until they had been allowed to understand on what basis their objections had been dismissed by the director of urban planning and the City of Harare,” Solanki submitted.
The ruling is likely to reignite scrutiny over Harare’s development approval processes, which have repeatedly come under criticism from residents over alleged irregularities, weak consultation and increasing commercial encroachment into residential neighbourhoods.
