Frontignan, its Voltaire quay, its barge and its residents who can’t take it anymore

Entre les riverains et la péniche, la situation est compliquée. MIDI LIBRE – PHILIPPE MALRIC

In Frontignan, a barge parked at the quay without a permit is causing inconvenience to residents of the building opposite.

“We don't want to close his business. We just want him to go somewhere else”. The residents of the Dionysos residence on the Quai Voltaire in Frontignan are very firm about their intentions regarding the barge Ibaïa parked on the Rhône-Sète canal right in front of their building. “Since it has been there, we have encountered nothing but inconvenience”, they say, gathered together as a collective.

A sum of inconveniences

Between the noise of the generator, a few noisy evenings, the customers of this floating pizzeria who park anywhere and “notably in front of the entrances and garages of the residence”, the trash thrown into their own containers and other postal address of the famous barge at their address – “from time to time we receive letters for him in our boxes", they explain – they do not live in great peace. Especially since from time to time, exasperated, residents come down to demand an explanation from the owner. Inevitably, the tone rises. “Me, now I go out to walk my dog ​​when I know there is no one on the boat because otherwise, often, there would be remarks flying around”, says a resident.

“I understand the anger of the residents”

And in each episode, it is the phone of Jean-Louis Molto, the deputy mayor in charge of port and seaside areas, that gets hot. “I understand the anger of the residents, the elected official says. But I can only try to resolve the situation on land. Each time, as soon as I can, I send the municipal police, but this can't continue. This barge is covered by maritime regulations and we cannot do anything about it”.

Fee increased by VNF

For its part, Voies navigables de France, which is competent on this subject, is very clear. “This barge is no longer allowed to sail with customers. It no longer has a permit”. Furthermore, as it has been stuck at the quayside since the end of last summer, it also has no right to be there. “The documents are no longer up to date. Its temporary quay occupation agreement is void”, assures VNF. The fee she owes has therefore been increased by 100% and the file has been forwarded to the Public Prosecutor's Office.

“I am in the process of validation”

Contacted by Midi Libre, the owner of the barge acknowledges “Today everything happens at the quay. Indeed, since then, I have done work on the structure of the boat. They have been validated by the DDTM and a naval architect. I transferred my file to VNF, it is currently being processed for validation”.
As for neighborhood disturbances, the boss assures that he does not do “any music. I do not do dances. 80% of my activity It's a table d'hôte with a maximum of 12 people on board and that's not often. And I have these customers park in the Perrier car park." As for parking, he points out that the quay is a "public road. My customers never park in front of garages and in any case the neighbours who all have two cars never park in their garages". And he continues:“On July 14, I saw the mayor who told me that I had to stop selling my pizzas because it was a nuisance in a residential area. In this case, he also only had to close all other pizza trucks in the city that are in residential areas…"

"We have done everything we could"

"This is from the summer of 2023. It could take more than two years before a decision is made, VNF announces. In this case, we have done everything we could. We can't go any further. If there are disturbances to public order, we completely understand the residents, but there is time for justice. “This procedure is of no use to us. It has been going on for too long. It has to go faster now,” the residents get carried away.

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