Attractiveness of the territories: in Pignan, Sommières or Mende, we want to grow at our own pace

Michelle Cassar, maire de Pignan au milieu d’une friche agricole où poussera bientôt une caserne de gendarmerie. MIDI LIBRE – Y. PO.

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"You can't imagine the number of calls we receive at the town hall, from people who want to come and settle in .And it's not just for social housing". Michelle Cassar has been mayor of Pignan since 2008. A pretty town located about fifteen kilometers west of Montpellier which has recorded a galloping demographic: of the order of 3.5% additional inhabitants every year since 2015. "The village", as the city continues to be called, has more than 8,200 inhabitants. There were barely 6,000 when Michelle Cassar took charge. This is an increase of 23.27% between 2015 and 2021 when Hérault recorded an increase of +7.29% over the same period and the country of +1.84%.

To cope with the influx of population, Michelle Cassar had to push the walls: "We built the Saint-Estève district in three phases .Slowly, over a dozen years". The Hamlet has been transformed into a Zac with 650 housing units that can accommodate 2,000 new residents. It was necessary to build the associated services. Here, we still have to open a new class, increasing to 32 in the three schools in the town.

A brand new gendarmerie barracks is promised for the end of 2024 and in two years, a multimodal room capable of accommodating 450 seats will see the light of day between the Serge Corbière stadium and the Super U. The only downside, < em>"young people are struggling to find housing because prices have soared, it’has become impossible", regrets Michelle Cassar. A reality for the entire Montpellier catchment area, which continues to attract new residents en masse. Another problem for Pignan, a very low land reserve in the commune which is confronted with the Zan law in order to fight against the artificialization of land: "All we have left is ;a construction potential of 250 housing units, after the rest, it is agricultural area", assures the elected official.

Sommières and its identity

In Sommières, in Gard, the population has also increased at a sustained rate: just over 5,000 inhabitants, an increase of 6% compared to 2015 when it was 2.49% in the department. "It’is an attractive area because we are located between Montpellier and Nîmes but we want a controlled demographic so as not to become a dormitory village, an unformed peri-urban area", pleads Mayor Laurent Martinez.

In Sommières, the increase in the population is above all natural and it is the entire Sommières region which benefits from it and which welcomes the new population. Because in the commune, which has been able to promote its heritage and which benefits from a very strong identity, we must deal with the constraint of the preservation plan against flooding and the protection of the medieval center, the commune cannot build for meet needs: "We have little land, so it’s a little more expensive, the population travels to the surrounding towns to enjoy the wonderful setting of Sommières".

A positive balance in Mende

In Lozère, the least populated department in France, the population is an indicator that we look closely at. And the mayor of Mende agrees without qualms: "We have a duty to remain attractive. We are lucky to be the center city, a prefecture city and to have services, schools, health establishments, culture, sport…". Mende, which represents 17% of the departmental population, is one of the rare municipalities to have a positive balance.

Thanks to its net migration (+0.6% per year). It is with La Canourgue, the only agglomeration which is gaining inhabitants. Results, in the department of 76,519 inhabitants, six classes will be lost at the next school year the population is refocusing in the central city: "We must build housing to prevent rents from exploding and bring in businesses, which we do with the development of a new activity zone . Mende is the engine of Lozère, but it needs fuel", illustrates the mayor. Despite the risk of seeing the rest of the department continue to depopulate for the benefit of its prefecture…