In Pessac, residents are opposed to the creation of a reception area for travelers

By a letter dated April 8, 2022 and a few days later in their mailbox, residents inMagellan Avenue to Pessac (Gironde) has heard about the impending arrival of new neighbors. And the least we can say is that this news does not please them.

In fact, in this letter, the Bordeaux metropolis informs them about its project to develop in this residential area, on a 6.5 ha plot which belongs to the municipality, and which is adjacent toHaut-Lévêque hospitala traveling reception area.

“The departmental scheme for the reception and accommodation of travelers from Gironde, revised on 25 March 2019 by the State and the Department, prescribes in the city of Pessac a reception area with a capacity of 20 seats due to the large flow of groups and the attractiveness of the hospital bar,” we read in the letter.

A petition with almost 500 signatures

When they discovered the existence of this project, some residents first fell out of their chairs before rolling up their sleeves to try to prevent it from happening, especially by launching a petition that collected nearly 500 signatures.

“We ask for your help in tackling this project, which has no place attached to our houses, whether it is due to the visual nuisance or the noise pollution it causes; not to mention the devaluation of all the houses in the area, the slowdowns on the avenue that this can cause during arrivals and departures of caravans, the detrimental impact on the ecology “, pleads Lucie Goulet, the resident of the petition.

This mother of a family lived in 2018 right next to this large property that had stood uninhabited for almost a decade and anticipated by the municipality in 2014, according to her words. She is worried about becoming a direct neighbor of this reception area: “We do not know who we should have next to us. »

A reception area reserved for relatives of hospitalized persons

Emmanuelle Prades, another neighbor, fears that the arrival of travelers will create many inconveniences and does not understand why another place, secluded from the houses and outside a nature area, was not chosen in the picture of the industrial area Bersol. “Knowing that 20 pitches does not solve anything,” she says, citing the dozens of caravans that regularly pop up in Géant Casino’s commercial area.

Recently arrived in the neighborhood, she also regrets that she discovered the project now and expects to suffer a property devaluation of almost 20%. “In recent months, several properties have been sold. People do not bother to live next to a reception area and left before it was known, ”the mother imagines.

She points to a house across the street, almost opposite the plot selected for the project: “The one over there, for example, sold for almost a million euros. But how much will it be worth tomorrow? »

Faced with these concerns, Stéphane Mari, the assistant for proximity, mobility, security and public spaces in the city of Pessac, wants to be reassuring. “The reception area will be monitored by a guard 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and reserved only for families of travelers with a member admitted to the Haut-Lévêque hospital. Parking will be paid and regulated.”

“It is a project initiated by the Bordeaux Métropole,” said Fabien Leroy, chief of staff of the mayor of Pessac. The department lacks structures for travelers, especially in the Bordeaux metropolis.

“Franck Raynal did not want an oversized project”

In the drawers for some years, this development project should therefore see the light of day in the near future. “Until then, the city of Pessac was not ready to accept the projects as they stand. The mayor asked to have it reworked. He did not want an oversized or unsecured project that did not respect the environment and the local residents. Every municipality in Bordeaux Métropole must play its role, ”develops Fabien Leroy.

A public meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 4, 2022 from kl. They are likely to be numerous.

“Should trees be felled?” Emmanuelle Prades is already wondering. public meeting can be held, “admits Franck Raynal’s chief of staff.

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