Le Figaro Bordeaux
The standoff continues.
For several months, the inhabitants of the twenty or so barges located in the Bassins à Flot district have been in conflict with the large maritime port of Bordeaux (GPMB), which wishes to double their parking fees within five years and make them change basin.
Faced with resistance from the penitentiaries, the GPMB demanded their expulsion.
At the beginning of 2023, the port establishment informed the inhabitants of the barge village that they will have to move to the floating basin number 2, because
“the basin number 1 will be reinvested in its entirety on the naval center”
, in particular to accommodate boats requiring regular technical stops, explains Renaud Picard, administrative and financial director of the GPMB.
A new location that has also
been “negotiated for several years”
, with a quay redeveloped to accommodate barges.
Only problem: this move goes hand in hand with an increase of 20% per year for five years in the fees paid by the occupants of the barges.
These new rates, particularly linked to the gentrification of the Bassins à Flot district, a sector undergoing rapid change, are strongly contested by the residents concerned, despite the service improvements proposed by the port establishment.
They therefore decided to take the GPMB to court, accusing it in particular of negligence.
An attack which backfired, the port having claimed that the barges discharged their wastewater into the basin, while a connection is planned in basin number 2.
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“Unfounded” accusations according to the port
On January 30, 2024, the tension rose another notch.
Barge owners came to demonstrate in front of the town hall, on the day of the municipal council, now accusing the port of being responsible for serious pollution in their neighborhood, denouncing in particular
“toxic emissions coming from illegal reefing”
carried out by the GPMB.
Accusations brushed aside by the port, deemed
“undocumented and unfounded”
, Renaud Picard recalling that no refit is carried out in the wet basins and that no spills take place.
Despite a stated desire on the part of the port of Bordeaux for an “always open door”, the break now seems to have been established with the barges.
“The GPMB summons us to the administrative court of Bordeaux to evict us while they claim in the press that they wanted to negotiate
,” laments Sara Cagol, resident on one of the barges.
According to her,
“the GPMB carried out violations of our homes by getting on our boats without our consent and by intimidating us with a blue-white-red card”
.
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“Daily stress becomes unbearable”
Faced with the non-regularization of their temporary occupation of the public domain,
“both on the river and on land”
since the beginning of 2023, the port of Bordeaux sent them a formal notice and requested impoundment vehicles parked in front of the barges, which have nevertheless been
“in front of our boats for 20 years”
, explains Sara.
If they don't move them, their vehicles could quickly be taken away.
Despite the discontent of the penitentiaries, the GPMB specifies that it wants to
“enforce the law”
.
The court is expected to rule on the request to evict the barns on June 14, but until then, residents intend to continue to mobilize.
According to them, the situation, described as
“harassment”
, is
“experienced as a trauma by all the residents”
, for whom
“the mental load and daily stress become unbearable”
.
Two summons from occupiers against the port will also be examined in March and April.