“The Company has the right to demand accountability from any public agent for its administration,” proclaims article 15 of the declaration of the rights of man and of the citizen of 1789. It is on the basis of this principle that Xavier Morin (Génération. s), opposition elected official in Argenteuil, requested the municipality to obtain a document concerning the Fiminco project, and in particular the use of the new performance hall.
Having no response, he contacted the Commission for Access to Administrative Documents (Cada).
She considered that the document could be made public but that she had not been able to obtain it herself.
Xavier Morin filed an appeal with the administrative court on February 28 to try to obtain it.
The Les Promenades d'Argenteuil project, led by the developer Fiminco, consists of building 156 housing units, a performance hall, 13,502 m² of shops and a 9-screen cinema in place of the Jean-Vilar and Pierre-Dux village halls.
The Jean-Vilar committee which brings together the opponents of this project has several times criticized the fact that the performance hall (1,000 seats, 3,200 standing) would be private and that its programming would be decided by the Fiminco group which would retain ownership. .
They fear that most of the activities hosted in the village halls will not be able to take place in this new space.
A window of 200 days per year to use the room?
“At the municipal council meeting of September 8, 2021, Jean-François Ploteau, deputy mayor, explained to us that there is a contract which allows the city to occupy the room 200 days a year.
It surprised us,” says Xavier Morin.
The elected representative of the majority explained that this room could be used in the same way as the Jean-Vilar room during these 200 days per year.
Associations would be welcomed there as before.
It therefore excluded any risk that the project would pose to the associative fabric.
Last year, the Jean-Vilar committee began to question the existence of such an agreement.
“We have letters that are contractual,” said his assistant in charge of town planning, Camille Gicquel, in our columns.
“There was a proposal from us at the town hall,” explains Béatrice Furon, director of institutional relations at Fiminco.
It concerns an option that the municipality can activate.
This involves making the performance hall available 194 days per year according to terms to be defined and against a preferential rate.
The city would have to position itself at the time of delivery, where the price will then be discussed.
“For the moment, we have not fixed the amount,” she confides.
The municipality did not respond to our requests.