This Thursday, March 2, as part of urban renewal projects in the Gard, Anne-Claire Mialot, the director general of the National Agency for Urban Renovation (ANRU), visited neighborhoods in Nîmes. She did the same in the wake of the side of Alès, where elected officials are demanding an extension of 54M€.
Anne-Claire Mialot’s visit began with a welcome at the house of Pissevin’s projects by the authorities present. The national director of the National Agency for Urban Renovation then walked through the streets of the Pissevin district with a circuit taking her through the Debussy slab, Wagner gallery, the Pollux bar and the Puccini viaduct. In the Gard to measure the progress of urban renewal programs. ” In Nîmes we have a major project of 140 million euros invested to support the transformation of three districts. On Pissevin, the project will allow us to intervene both in social housing but also in private condominiums for a global transformation of the neighborhood, to improve the lives of the inhabitants and to work on resilience with the way we can think about adaptation. climate change, the energy crisis and biodiversity issues. Here it is the case of floods that is taken into account explains Anne-Claire Mailot.
Anne-Claire Mialot in the Pissevin district • Photo: Norman Garden
After a walk, the director of the ANRU left by car in the district of Valdegour. The Gard prefecture was represented by its deputy general secretary Chloé Demeulenaere who underlined: “This is a particularly ambitious project because it has the ambition to redraw the image of the districts and to rekindle the desire to return to settle in these neighborhoods. There are beautiful and warm things happening in these neighborhoods”. Anne-Claire Mialot then took the direction of Alès.
The Alesian visit to 54 million euros
With a little fifteen minutes late – probably a quarter of an hour from the Cévennes – the director general of the ANRU arrived in Alès, more precisely in the Faubourg du Soleil, a district concerned by the New national program for urban renewal. (NPNRU) and its envelope of nearly €150 million, including 52 million in state grants and loans via the ANRU, 60 million euros from the social landlord Logis Cévenols, 18 million from Alès Agglomeration, 6.5 million from the City, or 1.7 million from the Region.
In Foubourg du Soleil, the demolition of a group of aging buildings, including the former bars l’Annex and Le 911, took place last year, a few months after the demolition of the old Bonnet bodywork. In early 2023, work continued with the demolition of new buildings. In early 2024, Action Logement must build there “a very nice building with 21 apartments”. “The idea is that the city center practically begins in the suburb”said Olivier Boffy, ANRU referent of the city of Alès.
“It is going well”noted the former prefect delegate for Equal Opportunities to the prefect of Seine-Saint-Denis. “We would go even faster without the administrative problems”, retorted the mayor, Max Roustan. After which, on foot, Christophe Rivenq, first deputy mayor for town planning, embarked the small delegation to “a tour of the main ANRU projects in progress”. On the other side of the Gardon, spanned by the Pont Vieux, 24 million euros have been invested in the Grand’rue Jean Moulin alone, which has 1,500 social housing units and 500 condominium units.
Christophe Rivenq presented the Alesian projects to Anne-Claire Mialot. • Corentin Migoule
Today considered as “a wart”the Grand’rue Jean Moulin is intended to become a “garden street”, “the most beautiful in town”. Its transformation is also in the hands of renowned landscaper Michel Péna. After the demolition of the large slab, the metamorphosis of one of the most densely populated thoroughfares in the city center will continue with the construction of two secure footbridges, in metal and glass, of about fifty meters each, which will allow access the entrances concerned from the Quai Jean Jaurès.
Also, 411 of the 1,500 social housing units in the district are being renovated. THE “tar removal” desired by local elected officials should make it possible to limit car transit, in favor of green spaces and soft travel. Obviously, it was time! “It’s hell in here! Put stuff on so the cars slow down because people are going flat out”cursed a lady from her balcony when the Alesian elected officials passed by this Thursday afternoon.
Patience ! Grand’rue Jean Moulin will soon be one-way (north to south) for motorists. But the inauguration of the new garden street should not take place before the first quarter of 2025. “It’s tomorrow morning”smiled Christophe Rivenq, who took advantage of the presence on site by Anne-Claire Mialot to get to the heart of the matter. His visit of the day was not quite a walk. Because if the State has already emerged to the tune of several tens of millions of euros for the capital of the Cévennes under urban renewal, the local executive is asking for more.
The elected officials hope to have convinced the director general of the ANRU to accept a substantial financial extension. • Corentin Migoule
No less than €54m are expected by the Roustan-Rivenq duo as part of an amendment to the initial contract, in other words an optimization clause to carry out new urban planning projects. “You are ambitious”laughed the general manager. “Who asks for nothing has nothing”returned the president of Alès Agglo, who notably argued the increase in housing needs in a territory subject to “an influx of people”.
The amount of this new clause, which was to be negotiated at the end of the seduction operation of the day in the assembly hall of the Atome building in the presence of the prefect of Gard, will be decided on March 8 at the ANRU commitment committee in Paris. The coveted extension would, among other things, connect rue Jules-Cazot which descends from the city center to the quays of Kilmarnock and Jaurès, which would also be the subject of a vast revegetation plan after the demolition of the current stairs.
“ANRU, it works!”
Christophe Rivenq
On board an electric shuttle from the Alès’Y network, the procession once again crossed the Gardon to settle for a few minutes in the Rochebelle district, before returning to the east side to finish at Près-Saint-Jean, a district presented by Christophe Rivenq as “a place where nobody went in the 90s”whereas today, “we manage to bring people there”and even “5,000 people on Sunday for the market”.
The proof for the last named that “ANRU, it works”. And to substantiate: “We have results in terms of social, security and employment. These neighborhoods touch the heart of the city. It’s a chance because we can connect them more easily.” Near the Pôle emploi Alès-Gardon agency, the Alesian municipality has ideas. But here too, the amount of the famous optimization clause will be decisive. The objective is to partially rehabilitate a ruined supermarket there in order to set up shops there, before constructing a new building conducive to hosting relay workshops and repatriating companies currently in the narrow on the ring road.
Nearly three hours after the start of a visit which was not a leap of flea, Anne-Claire Mialot delivered an analysis which delighted the elected representatives of the Ales: “I am pleased to see that the projects that were presented to me a year ago when the agreement was signed have entered a very concrete phase. What is very interesting with Alès is that it his is a global project that fits perfectly with the “action heart of the city” program. A comprehensive project, which deals with social housing and private housing, rethinks the connection between the different neighborhoods and contributes to the revitalization of the center. -city”
Norman Jardin (in Nîmes) and Corentin Migoule (in Alès)
