Thinking about the city of tomorrow: the work directions of the Union of Neighborhood Committees

Pascal Vinette, à gauche, présente les pistes de réflexion sur la ville de demain. MLG

Mercredi soir, lors de son assemblée générale au centre Pablo-Neruda, l’UCQNM, présidée par Michel Aubert, a dévoilé les dossiers sur lesquels elle travaille.

L’urbanization, "excessive" for many in many neighborhoods, was, 10 months ago, the trigger for the awakening of the Union of Neighborhood Committees of Nîmes Métropole (UCQNM). A Union put on hold since December 2022 and the resignation of its president for health reasons. So, for this second general assembly, which took place Wednesday evening at the Pablo-Neruda center, some were surprised by the absence of Julien Plantier, first deputy delegate for urban planning, only the president from Nîmes Métropole, Franck Proust, the deputy Yoann Gillet, the departmental councilor Vincent Bouget and opposition municipal elected officials (Marianne Bernède, Corinne Giacometti, Bruno Ferrier…) having made the trip. Regardless, the members of the 30 neighborhood committees belonging to the Union, chaired by Michel Aubert, discussed projects and various missions.

Proposing a vision of the city of tomorrow

One of the first acts of the Union of Neighborhood Committees was to found an urban planning commission. "Each committee must have an urban planning representative to relay the information", recalled Jean-Pierre Duval (Jean-Jaurès). Pascal Vinette (Ermitage), architect, underlined the desire of "propose a vision and projection of the city of tomorrow to avoid piecemeal. And therefore a common project of elected officials and residents, around environmental, economic and socio-cultural issues."

A road map will therefore be put in place aimed at giving each district its own identity, identifying the potential to be developed and " involve real estate projects upstream". An investigation will be relayed by the committees; a training course in the PLU (Local Urban Planning Plan) will be offered. "Our objective ? Innovate in the approach to consumption the territory."

MP Yoann Gillet drew attention to the potential of OAPs (Programmed Development Operations) which, within the framework of a PLU,"allow, for example, to define the percentage of green spaces, to work street by street… They make it possible to partially circumvent the rules on densification. There are very few in Nîmes."

A reflection on neighborhood councils

Second project of the UCQNM, « initiate a reflection on the functioning of Neighborhood Councils. "Are they real relays on all the problems affecting the city ?, asked Bernard Simon (the Placette). Do they promote a certain citizenship or can we go beyond ?" And suggest avenues around security issues, extension of skills, budget, environment….

"In the Councils' budget, more than 80 % passes through the roads", recalled the President Michel Aubert. "On the work, there is never any consultation with users who have expertise, supported Marie-Pierre Quesada (Gambetta). The Councils do not ask for knowledge from the field." A point of view shared by the president of the Agglo, Franck Proust: "On technical problems, we must rely on the population."

This proposal to modify the functioning of the Councils should be submitted to the town hall Jean-Paul Fournier.

Thirty committees joined the Union of Neighborhood Committees

While in June, during the first general assembly which saw the election of Michel Aubert to the post of president, only 24 neighborhood committees (out of the forty ;active) had joined the UCQNM, there are now 30 members: Alouette, Armoise-Maleroubine, Beausoleil, Camplanier, Mas de Campagne, Clos d’Orville, Ermitage , Feuchères, Gambetta, Grézan, Jean-Bouin, Jean-Jaurès, la Cigale, la Gazelle, la Placette, les Marronniers, les Oliviers, Maréchal-Juin-Capouchiné-Camargue, Mas de Mingue, Mas de Ville, Montaury, Montcalm- République, Pissevin, Puech-du-Teil, Route d’Alès, Russan, Tour Magne, Vacquerollles, Ventabren, Villeverte.