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The Lagos State Government and the Magodo Residents Association have reached common grounds on contents of the review of Magodo Residential Scheme II Plan.
Speaking at the Stakeholders' meeting held at the Magodo Community Hall on Friday, the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr. Idris Salako said that after several meetings, the two sides finally agreed to leave the estate as residential with no mixed developments, while those who had converted their uses would revert to the status quo.
He said it was also agreed, among others, that no development would be tolerated on Magodo wetlands and CMD Road will remain mixed-use, while its other side is recovered as a buffer zone for the Expressway.
The Commissioner explained that the review of the plan of the medium residential estate was important as it bordered on the sustainability of the well-planned residential area for the benefit of all and sundry.
He recalled that the Lagos State Government, as part of its intervention of bridging the housing gap in the State, had created the Magodo Residential Schemes, strictly as medium residential estates, through the New Towns Development Authority (NTDA) which had the mandate to develop residential schemes for different strata of the society.
In his words: "As a Government Scheme, it is a truism that your estate, at inception, had gone through the appropriate planning processes to bequeath a serene, orderly, organised and sustainable environment".
While noting that standard, partial and sectoral considerations had equally been made, in line with international best practices, and provisions for all necessary services, Salako decried the unapproved change of the estate plan by residents who had unilaterally and illegally altered their uses to allow offices, religious houses and commercial activities of different types to spring up in areas where they are not designated.
"It is discomfiting how the Government's vision of accommodating the elites of the society in an ambient environment is gradually supplanted by an unsalutary culture of arbitrariness, which, if care is not taken, may create planning disorder and throw up slumming challenges", he said.
The Commissioner stated that given this background, the government must intervene to restore order in line with the planning regulations, which stipulates periodic review of estate schemes to meet contemporary needs.
"Given this realisation, the New Towns Development Authority has spearheaded a review of the Magodo Residential Scheme II with the sustainability of the estate in mind as the ongoing review is intended to better the lot of residents of the scheme and further the realisation of the T.H.E.M.E.S Agenda of the Lagos State Government" he said.
He, therefore, urged stakeholders to volunteer their contributions to the review process and give their total support towards achieving a desirable outcome.
Top officials on the Government side at the meeting include the General Manager, Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority, Tpl. Funmi Osifuye; General Manager, New Towns Development Authority, Tpl. Kunle Aboyeji and Director, Technical Services, Tpl. Bola Aliu, while the MRA BOT Chairman, Chief Owojori, Tpl. Rotimi Abdul, Rev. Akindele and Former Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Tpl. Fransisco Abosede represented the Association.
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