Le Figaro Bordeaux
There are 22 Bordeaux residents who sent a registered letter on Tuesday to their environmentalist mayor, Pierre Hurmic, after discovering his ambitions for their homes during an information meeting at the beginning of March. On Place André Recapet, where they live in the Nansouty district, the 24 parking spaces must disappear and make way for a green island of freshness. Only four of them will remain.
“They are full every evening. Two salespeople who come home late live on the square and a new residence has been built right next door. It’s a big problem, it’s not possible
,” thunders Jean-Marc Mora. The headliner of this revolt, who nevertheless travels by bus, is all the less angry since the local residents were not consulted.
“We are not against revegetation, but we want to stop this project and have a real discussion with elected officials about the development of the place
,” he thunders.
In his eyes,
“the green town hall is completely wrong”
about the public utility of this road.
“Replacing parking spaces with a small grove of trees and benches is not doing anyone any favors. I can’t see someone with children sitting there.”
And for good reason: 300 meters away stands the Jardin des Barrières, a green city setting, offering the shade of a thousand century-old trees, which extends over 28 hectares.
“On the other hand, we have a diaconate center which welcomes people in difficulty two streets from us. The misfits who pass by already stop in the square... So a grove with three benches would rather be a source of trouble
,” complains the Bordeaux resident.
I showed the color, I am a green mayor. Once it's done, people are happy
Pierre Hurmic, mayor of Bordeaux
Also read: Pierre Hurmic: “Bordeaux minerals must adapt to climate change”
Urban heat island
“There are more Bordeaux residents who ask me to green their city than to maintain parking spaces at all costs. It’s a climatic imperative and once it’s done, people are happy
,” Pierre Hurmic replies to Le
Figaro
. Recalling that this place is listed as an urban heat island and that there are 67 car-sharing stations in the city, the city councilor of the one he calls
“Bordeaux the mineral”
persists and signs.
“What I do today corresponds to the commitments I made. I showed the color, I am a green mayor. I think we are in the process of inventing a Bordeaux-style ecology, Gironde, inventive, human, pragmatic and emancipated from central power.
“This project is part of a program to reduce heat islands which increase and are then distributed throughout the city
,” adds Camille Choplin, deputy mayor of Bordeaux, who also assures that many local residents are also delighted with this project.
“In public spaces where we have power, we come to anticipate the heatwaves to come. Residents' gardens are not enough to lower the temperature
,” adds the mayor of the Nansouty district. Before concluding:
“We work for the general interest. Parking spaces were eliminated in other neighborhoods and residents organized without complaint.”
An epistolary response, taking up these arguments, must be sent to local residents in the coming days.