In Saint-Césaire, “real estate pressure is decreasing in the heart of the village”

René Genti est le président du comité de quartier de Saint-Césaire.

Before the general meeting of the neighborhood committee on March 6, an update with President René Genti.

René Genti, you are the president of the Saint Césaire-Mas Roman neighborhood committee. You will bring together residents during the general assembly on Wednesday March 6, at 7 p.m., in the Jean-Bonfils municipal hall, rue de Mascard. What subjects, a priori, will they wish to address ?

Unfortunately, the problems addressed are always the same: security, cleanliness, roads, parking, constructions… Themes that we find in many Nîmes neighborhoods… Residents want to live peacefully, without being crowded on top of each other, in a place where there are green spaces. For this general assembly, we have only invited elected officials and managers of the services concerned by our questions. We do not want a political meeting.

Regarding security, does incivility appear to be a recurring problem ?

Since 2017, we have been part of the Citizen Participation system. Today, almost all the references have been renewed. I'm struggling to know the exact role of everyone: committee, neighborhood advisors, police advisors… In a neighborhood with 7,000 residents, people do not necessarily react as they should: namely, without reporting, notify the representatives if they see something curious, or call 17 if there is a violation. Citizen participation is prevention: we have very few reports. Everyone should be made aware again. As for incivility, for example we have trash containers almost everywhere in the streets, particularly Avenue Joffre. We have just had a meeting with the social landlord Habitat du Gard and Nîmes Métropole to encourage people to bring in their trash.

Have the Saint-Césairois integrated the new household waste collection days ?

We went from three weekly tours to two. This is going relatively well: the residents have gotten used to it. There remains the question of green waste, which is no longer collected. The presidents of neighborhood committees are invited by Nîmes Métropole to a meeting on March 4 to discuss this issue.

Is Saint-Césaire subject to real estate pressure ?

A project was launched on rue du Temple with around twenty apartments, a building was completed on rue Raimu, but real estate pressure is starting to subside in the heart of the village. There is also the development of the Market Station, where construction is planned, particularly at the location of the 4th Equipment Regiment. I asked that Julien Plantier, deputy delegate for town planning, present the project at the general assembly. We will also ask if the switching off of public lighting will be delayed during the Feria since the trams will run until half past midnight.

You would like to involve young people in the neighborhood committee.

The three-year term of the board of directors ends in 2025 and we would like young people to get involved. Most certainly, we will renew two events launched this year: the associations day and the welcome of new residents. It is important that Saint-Césaire retains the village spirit.