Delayed, the opening of the Frontignan Traveler reception area should finally take place

L’aire d’accueil de Frontignan en février dernier au début des travaux. Midi Libre – Thomas Ancona-Léger

After several delays caused by damage, the Frontignan reception area is preparing to reopen in a climate of mistrust between the Agglopôle de Sète and travelers.

They have now been installed for seven months in the parking lot of an industrial zone in Frontignan or elsewhere in the Thau basin. Seven months since they were asked to leave due to work. As summer approached, the traveling families who occupied the Frontignan area began to find the weather long.

Delay and degradations

According to the Agglo, the end of the work which was initially planned for the month of May was delayed. The date of June 4 has now been brought forward. The fact remains that, as many people have noticed, the work took a long time to begin. "What was the point of kicking us out when nothing had been done for months ?", we ask questions about families.

Questioned on this point, Jean-Jacques Taillade, deputy general director of SAM in charge of the Attractiveness and territorial development division, explains that the work, for a total amount of 700,000 euros , have indeed started at the "end of last year". Simply, they would have suffered a certain number of delays linked to "intrusions on the site in January which caused damage".

"What cost us the most was in fact the implementation of remote fluid management which involved taking over the entire network. From now on, a prepayment system will prevail. We buy credits for water and electricity and when it's over, it cuts off."

"Limiting roaming"

This development in reception was also noted at the last community council. More precisely by point number 13 relating to "revision of the internal regulations of the reception areas", where mention is made of "< em>new terms of occupation".

From now on, in order to "to encourage the roaming of travelers", the maximum duration of parking will also be limited to 120 days with, for specific reasons, the possibility of extending it to 60 additional days.

A point voted unanimously which however goes against the aspirations of the former occupants of the reception area, some of whom have been present for years on the site. territory of the Thau basin, and who hope to limit their roaming.

"A lot of misunderstanding"

"It’s true that the reception area is not necessarily ideal for us , what we would like would be small plots of land like in Pignan (where family rental plots have been set up, Editor's note)", we move forward on the side of travelers. An initiative which is set up as an example by the prefecture in the latest assessment of the departmental plan for the reception and housing of Travelers carried out last March. And a solution which seems more adapted to the new practices of these populations, in the process of becoming sedentary, who are currently wandering the territory of the Agglo.

"There have been too many broken promises, now the dialogue is broken", we hear from the former occupants of Frontignan. According to our sources, there would indeed be "a lot of misunderstanding and little communication" between the protagonists. And this, even though a department of the Agglo is totally dedicated to it. It remains to be seen whether the reopening of the Frontignan area and its new reception arrangements will be able to restore confidence.

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