Construction work on a contested housing development in Glen Lorne has been halted after the High Court granted an interim order stopping a Chinese-owned developer from continuing earthworks on land residents say forms part of a legally protected wetland.
The order, issued by consent before Justice Samuel Deme on Monday, covers Stand 4717 in the upmarket Harare suburb. It remains in force while the dispute between the developer, Zhuomu International (Private) Limited, and a group of neighbouring property owners works its way through the courts.
What the court order covers
The applicants include businessman Shingai Mutasa and more than two dozen other Glen Lorne residents. They approached the High Court on an urgent basis seeking to freeze activity on the site until questions about the project’s environmental approvals are resolved.
Zhuomu’s plans for the roughly 9.2-hectare property comprise 21 standalone villas and 75 cluster housing units. At this stage, the residents are not asking the court to rule on whether the development’s Environmental Impact Assessment certificate is lawful. Their immediate goal is to preserve the status quo while they gather documents from the relevant authorities and prepare a fuller challenge.
What residents allege happened on site
In his founding affidavit, Mutasa describes a sequence of activity that residents say began in August. They report witnessing grading and levelling close to the Umwinsi River on 5, 17 and 18 August, followed by trenching and the erection of a perimeter wall.
On 24 August, residents say, an excavator digging a trench along Lytham Road moved down a slope into an area they believed was off-limits under the project’s environmental conditions. The next day, they allege, the same machine cut across a small stream that feeds a dam on an adjoining property.
The affidavit further claims that rubble, soil and felled trees were dumped inside the restricted zone, and that boreholes were in use before residents could establish whether the necessary water abstraction permits had been issued.
Residents say they reported the activity to the Environmental Management Agency and to water authorities. Although EMA officials carried out an inspection, the alleged violations continued, according to the court papers. The applicants also say they were never given a clear answer on whether the City of Harare’s approval of the boundary wall could take precedence over conditions attached to the developer’s EIA certificate.
Why the wetland matters beyond Glen Lorne
A large portion of the property was gazetted as part of the Helensvale Ecologically Sensitive Area in 2022. The Environmental Management Act bars certain activities on protected wetlands without written authorisation, while environmental regulations place restrictions on drilling, soil disturbance and the clearing of natural vegetation in wetlands and near public streams.
The residents’ case leans heavily on the site’s position within the Umwinsi headwater wetland ecosystem, which drains into the Nyagui River and eventually the Mazowe River. They cite an assessment by wetlands specialist Dr Rob Cunliffe warning that covering natural ground with roofs, roads and paving would cut infiltration and groundwater recharge, while increasing runoff and the risk of flooding downstream.
That report also flags pollution and siltation risks, along with the cumulative effect of sinking multiple boreholes inside the same wetland system. The applicants argue that the matter touches on constitutional rights to an environment that is not harmful to health or wellbeing, as well as rights relating to water, food, administrative justice and access to information.
What happens next
Lincoln Majogo of Mtetwa & Nyambirai Legal Practitioners, who represents the residents, said the consent order delivered the immediate protection his clients had sought. He indicated that the parties would return to court according to agreed timelines, while keeping the door open to an out-of-court settlement.
For now, work at Stand 4717 is on hold. The wider questions — how the development was approved, what weight the City of Harare’s permissions carry against environmental restrictions, and what the project means for Harare’s strained water systems — are still to be tested.
