Community connections

I've had a bit of a planning dilemma over the last few months.  One of the components of an Integrated Development Plan is to complete something they call the Spatial Framework.  In essence, the Spatial Framework is the land use plan for the town.  Since there is no official land use plan for Mazabuka, I believe that this will actually be the core component of the plan.


Over a year ago, some work was started on the Spatial Framework, which resulted in three hand-drafted "development scenarios" (I've not actually seen hand drafted land use maps in my previous professional practice!).  I was told that there had been another workshop to determine which was the best scenario, but the records of that workshop have mysteriously vanished.  At any rate, our team has looked at the scenarios, and we have proceeded to digitize them using GIS.  Due to the time constraints, we're attempting to consolidate the maps into one scenario so that it's less confusing.  It's evident (at least to me), that some of the land use assumptions have changed since the maps were first produced, so we'll need to do some additional consultations to determine the proper courses of action.
 

One of the draft Spatial Framework scenarios.

The digitized draft version of the Spatial Framework.  (click on the map to enlarge)

Here's where my dilemma comes in: I found it hard to understand what to plan for without having visited each part of town in detail.  For instance, I feel a bit uncomfortable with all the yellow "residential" blobs on the map, when I know that there are plenty of businesses in these areas, as well as other land uses.  As a planner, I wondered what land use policies we should include for each category, since there was precious little detail in any of the previous documents.

With the Community Development section in the Planning Department, we organized a series of walking tours, led by the members of the Residential Development Committees in each neighbourhood.  The process took two solid weeks, which was admittedly a bit tiring.  My team responded enthusiastically, and we managed to do all the tours on schedule.  The RDC members definitely were happy to have been involved in this way; it is my understanding that the RDCs have never been systematically consulted in this way.  My only concern now is that we've fuelled high expectations to deliver what the communities have asked for.

In the last while, I've forged a relationship with the editor of the Mazabuka Times, which is a small community newspaper.  The editor came along on one of our tour days, and together we collaborated on an article that will appear in the paper this week.  Here's the text of the article:

It's been a while, but the Mazabuka Municipal Council has restarted work on its Integrated Development Plan, or IDP for short. As readers may remember, the IDP is a long range municipal development plan which integrates spatial, environmental, social, economic and financial issues into one document. The Council is aiming to prepare the document for Council and ministry approval by March 2011.

In support of the IDP, the Planning Department has initiated a series of walking tours with each of the Residential Development Committees (RDCs) and Market Committees in the urban area. The purpose of these tours, which are guided by the members of the RDCs and Market Committees, is to see the issues that are most important to each community. The project team expects to use the feedback from the walking tours to shape the policies of the plan and to identify priority projects.

So far, residents have responded enthusiastically to the presence of the planning team and have been eager to show off the best and worst of their communities. Common discussions have focused on the quality of roads and drainage systems, the availability of clean water, waste disposal and collection, and access to markets.

ROADS AND DRAINAGES

In several parts of Mazabuka, residents pointed out that roads have not been graded for some time. The lack of grading over time has resulted in conditions where water drains to the centre of the road, rather than to the drainage ditches at the sides of the road. In many instances, culverts (the pipes or passages under driveway entrances) have also become blocked by dirt and other debris, which causes storm water to back up during the rainy season. It is evident that both the Council and area residents have important roles to play in clearing drainage ditches so that they function as they were intended.

Typically, water should run off the centre of the road to the ditches on the sides.  Here it appears that the ditch and the road are the same thing.

More roadway erosion due to poor grading and drainage.

WATER

The planning team heard several stories from the RDCs and Market Committees about the lack of clean water in their communities. Sometimes water service is the responsibility of SWASCO; however in several cases (e.g. Ndeke, Kaleya), the community operates its own water system. In such community-run systems, the RDC is responsible for collecting water-related fees from residents and carrying out regular maintenance to the pumps and water lines. By diligently collecting revenue and sensitizing residents about the importance of paying for water, communities in Mazabuka will enjoy improved access to clean water.

Discussing a community-run water pump with the members of the RDC.

WASTE DISPOSAL AND COLLECTION

The RDC members have had a great deal to show and tell about waste disposal in their communities. The team witnessed a number of undesirable waste management practices, including the creation of garbage pits in the road allowance, and the accumulation of garbage heaps in “green spaces” at the edges of the community. For its part, Mazabuka Municipal Council is working on the waste problem. Current efforts include the design of a new waste disposal site and plans to scale up waste collection operations to the communities.

The nascent waste collection system operates in only a few places in Mazabuka, and collection frequency is sporadic.  The result: green spaces and drainage ways get quite clogged with refuse. 

The Council constructed a few of these waste collection bins that they call midden boxes.  This one is actually in rather decent shape, but some have been quite severely vandalized.  Collection is sporadic at best.

MARKETS

Where do the majority of Mazabuka residents go to buy milk, vegetables, charcoal, talk time or even a custom-made table? Overwhelmingly, the answer is “the market”. It is therefore evident that some attention needs to be focused on the state of Mazabuka's markets. One of the key desires expressed by the marketeers across Mazabuka was to have proper market structures to display and store their goods. Many marketeers currently operate from makeshift shelters that are exposed to the elements and that cannot be secured during the night. Effective solutions to these issues are invariably ones that will involve the participation of the Council and the members of the market committees.

The markets are vibrant places, but marketeers would appreciate having some permanent structures to keep their wares away from the elements.

Folks here seem to love posing for photographs - it's quite a novelty.  This lady was selling beans, kapenta (small dried fish) and the tree root used to make chibuantu.

This current series of Community Walking Tours has provided a rare opportunity for the locally-elected committees to show Council workers the best and the worst features of their communities. All in all, it appears that the Community Walking Tours have provided a rewarding learning experience for Council workers and the local committee representatives.

 I hope you've enjoyed this quick tour of Mazabuka, as much as I've enjoyed writing about it.  :-)