Although, this Monday, the work has resumed, the media village will undoubtedly be, until the end, a stone in the shoe of the Olympic Games of 2024. If it was not compulsory, the organizers of the Games in Paris had wanted - like the Rio Olympics in 2016 - to offer a village for journalists during the competitions, offering the opportunity of a new district in Dugny, in Seine-Saint-Denis.
“This village is not a fad, insists Stéphane Troussel, the president (PS) of the departmental council of Seine-Saint-Denis, who continues to fight in this file. It was a proposal from the organizing committee (Cojo) in order to have an offer of accommodation close to the press center
(Editor's note: located at the Parc des Expositions de Paris-Le Bourget)
, it is also the central point of the he heritage in our department, proof that the Games can improve the living environment. "
Questioned in 2018 in a first report of the General Inspectorate which warned of possible budgetary slippages, again threatened with the health crisis and finally split into two phases (700 of the 1300 housing units planned will be delivered in 2024 as part of the Olympic Games , the rest is planned for 2025 with the recovery plan), the media village has been in parentheses since April and the appeals of various environmental associations.
"A useful new district for the Olympics"
Thursday, the administrative court of appeal of Paris put an end to the standoff by rejecting the various appeals. This Tuesday, the delivery company of the Olympic works (Solideo) will take note of the court decision, while as of Monday, the soil survey work resumed on the site. "The Court recognizes that this new district is useful for the Olympics and for the inhabitants and that ecological requirements were indeed at the heart of our reflection", points out Stéphane Troussel.
According to the National Movement for the Fight for the Environment (MNLE) and the Collectif pour le Triangle de Gonesse (CPTG), authors of the appeal, the village project on the Aire des vents "harmed protected species and their habitat. ".
"A debate is currently taking place in Île-de-France, but it is indeed possible to meet a need for equipment while preserving the environment", insists the elected official who recalls that Dugny has been waiting for his neighborhood "for many years. years.
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A priori, although work on part of the site has been stopped for two months, the schedule should be kept.
Unlike that of the Grand Paris Express.
The Société du Grand Paris should confirm that the future line 16, which will serve the sites of Le Bourget and La Courneuve, will not be ready for 2024. "Regrettable news", believes Stéphane Troussel who asks that "alternatives be quickly proposed in order to transport spectators ”.
In addition to the village and the media center, shooting and climbing events are planned at the Dugny-La Courneuve-Le Bourget cluster.
The foreseeable non-delivery of line 16 had already set back Paris 2024, which had anticipated the announcement by moving water polo (from Marville to Saint-Denis) and volleyball (from Bourget to Porte de Versailles, in Paris) .