Par Writing Cahors
Published on Jun 14 ’22 at 7:32
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After two years of restricted activity due to Covid, this summer 2022, the city of Cahors, in the Lotwill reconnect with a wide cultural offer diversified. The smooth running of the festivities and an optimal reception of tourists mobilize the municipality, on several policies implemented throughout the year.
We asked Serge Munté, Deputy Mayor in charge of festivities, proximity, cleanliness, public safety and tranquility, mobility, parking, hard at work to make Cahors an attractive city.
A rich festive and cultural program
Actu : This summer 2022, many events will take place in Cahors. How does the municipality participate in their implementation?
Serge Munté: This summer 2022, we will have a rich festive and cultural program, with the reopening of the Henri-Martin Museum, the 2nd edition of “Taking on the island” at the Lucien Desprats stadium, in partnership with cultural associations and sports, which will offer games for children, the renewal of the Mets Thursdays for the 3rd edition, an event that was born with the health crisis, but also the Tour de France on July 22, the return of festivals in their usual format: “Let’s Docks”, “Lot of Flavours”, “Cahors Blues Festival”, “the Lot in blue millstones”, “Contemporary Traces”…
The City of Cahors is adapting by hiring seasonal workers who are primarily students and unemployed people, and by recruiting project managers. We have a “festivities” department, which is in charge of coordinating the events, this year placed under the sign of the Year of Denmark; events organized by the community or by associations. The municipal police intervene to secure them.
How do you manage to reconcile entertainment in Cahors and respect for public peace?
S. M. : Who says entertainment, says noise. This problem arises in cities with cultural wealth. There are prefectural standards in this area that must be respected. The Mayor of Cahors has the possibility of taking derogations from these standards, following requests, knowing that these derogations must be endorsed by the Prefecture.
We want the City of Cahors to be lively, while ensuring public tranquility. We ensure that economically, an association or a company can develop, while respecting the neighborhood. As has been the case recently, we may have to make compromise decisions, such as temporarily closing the terrace. The municipal police are responsible for public tranquility.
Parking, a problem in the city
What is the impact of these events on parking in the City of Cahors?
S. M. : There will be, as during the Tour de France, a closure of certain arteries, closed to traffic, and the closure of car parks. But, as far as possible, we will always give priority, for the places of events, to spaces where there is no parking or roads, as for Lot of Saveurs on the Fénelon alleys, or for Contemporary Traces in the forecourt Bessières, in front of the cinema. We try to minimize the impact on parking and roads.
What is parking in Cahors like today? How is the municipality working on its development, in the coming years, as in Place Chapou?
S. M. : In Cahors, we currently have a total of 4,300 parking spaces, 2,500 of which are free.
We created the station car park, with 130 spaces, the carpool car park in Regourd with 80 spaces, the Périé car park with around a hundred, and the Roquebilière car park with 70 spaces. These recent free car parks, which we have set up, like the extension of the Chartreux car park, are located 10 minutes on foot from the city center and are served by free shuttles.
Bus transport in town is totally free. We favor soft mobility, such as cycling, with bicycle garages. We have a desire to put plants back. We will try to keep the spaces green to reduce the temperature by a few degrees.
We try to reconcile changes in parking with the demands of traders and residents. As during the work on the cinema, each time we remove parking, we create an equivalent number of spaces. Regarding the future of Place Chapou, meetings are underway. Only one thing is certain, to date, and that is that the market will remain in this place, on Wednesday and Saturday mornings.
What is your parking pricing policy? What is the role of the company in charge of control, often the subject of controversy?
S. M. : We have set up the resident rate, at €10 per month, which is one of the lowest in France. In Cahors, the price is 17 € for 4 hours, compared to 25 in Montauban, or 30 in Tulle. Since the implementation of the FPS, the Post-Parking Package, we have not increased this rate. Free parking is the enemy of commerce. For example, in the Galdemar car park, there are 8 rotations, per day and per space, which promotes trade. I specify that depending on the month, 40 to 45% of parking is within 30 minutes of free parking, per day.
Parking is also free on Saturday afternoons.
The company has no financial stake in issuing the tickets. She is only there to control.
Security and CCTV
Is Cahors a safe city? How does the City of Cahors do what is necessary to improve security with its municipal police?
S. M. : Cahors is one of the safest cities in France. I thank the National Police, which solved investigations, recently, in short times. We have increased the number of municipal police, which has gone from six officers to 9, and increased their hours of presence, their day now ending at 8 p.m. on weekdays, instead of 5:30 p.m. previously.
Security also depends on the help we receive from the Government. The problem of purchasing power and the closing of beds, in psychiatry, do not help. You have to work with social workers who know the issues. We work in collaboration with the National Police, the municipal one being more about public tranquility.
Are you going to continue investing in video protection? Is this system effective?
S. M. : We started in 2017. Today, we have 36 cameras, with an additional one currently being added. We decide on priority locations, according to requests from businesses or even individuals, in conjunction with the municipal police. We will add 3 cameras to the fleet by the end of the year. Video protection makes it possible to solve investigations, to intervene more quickly… The cameras only film the public highway.
For attractiveness, how do you ensure the cleanliness of the City of Cahors?
S. M. : Efforts have been made in this regard. We have a dedicated team of 26 agents. We beefed up our green brigade of 3 agents. We try to be reactive on bulky items, illegal deposits. We set up the buried containers.
Gradually, we set up recyclable bins, knowing that each has a cost of 800 to 1,000 €. Once a semester, we call on a company to remove the tags. We put an end to glyphosate. Grass is not dirty. You have to get used to seeing grass. We intervene, every six weeks, to level the road, by removing the weeds.
What is your assessment of the effectiveness of the Proximity service that you have put in place? How does it work ?
S. M. : It’s a gateway to requests, whether it’s a malfunctioning candelabra or a broken bench. Everyone can send their request, by email to the address [email protected], by contacting 0 800 46 00 00, free call, or via the TellMyCity Cahors application.
We have six general-purpose agents, in the field, at this service, and 4 agents who centralize requests.
Depending on their importance, we act internally, or we call on service providers.
Anyone who makes a complaint to the Proximity service is kept informed of the consequences. We receive 3,000 requests per year, a figure that is growing every year. The Proximity Service is a great achievement, set up nearly 10 years ago, since copied by many cities elsewhere in France.
Interview by DIDIER QUET
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