Carnon (Hérault) was one of the last bastions of free admission on the Hérault coast. If you were lucky enough to find a place, in the summer, in this ultra-popular seaside resort, parking was free for everyone. But, like its neighbor Palavas-les-Flots six years ago, the town gave in to the sirens of the parking meter: from June 1, before going to sunbathe on the beaches of Carnon, you will have to pay a ticket parking. The decision was voted on February 13 at the last city council.
Depending on the area, motorists will have to pay between 1.20 and 6 euros per hour. In the red zone, where parking in the summer is the most difficult, they will still be entitled to 30 free minutes, before having to go to the cash register. “I am not against motorists”, confides to 20 minutes Yvon Bourrel (various left), the mayor of Mauguio-Carnon. His idea is to redistribute the street, including, from now on, soft transport. And to appease the station. “The purpose is not to pressure people, notes the elected official. I just want to restore order in a public space that is completely embolized in the summer, and even on certain weekends the rest of the year. »
“Palavas-les-Flots, La Grande-Motte and Le Grau-du-Roi have not experienced a loss of love”
The town hall will invest 1 million euros in the installation of parking meters. But, each year, according to his first estimates, parking should bring him around 500,000 euros. A rather welcome financial windfall, while the municipality is engaged in a major requalification of its seaside resort. Because these adjustments, Yvon Bourrel does not wish to see them “supported, only, by taxpayers. It seems acceptable to me that the user, when he comes, can be the contributor, too. Remaining on a model where the taxpayer is the only one to assume the entirety of a service that was not specifically intended for him”, it is inconceivable.
Can Montpellier residents and tourists definitely draw a line under Carnon if parking has to be paid? No, assures the mayor. A specialized firm called on by the town noted that “contrary to popular belief, Palavas-les-Flots, La Grande-Motte and Le Grau-du-Roi have not experienced a lack of love on the part of people”, when free parking was abandoned in these coastal towns, says Yvon Bourrel. “People say more like ‘At least we’ll have a place!’ »
“We are going to suicide”
This decision provoked, in this resort, which is nevertheless quiet in winter, a wind of revolt. If many locals grumble, it’s not because tourists will have to put their hands in their pockets. But rather because they too will have to pay. Serge Wolniewicz, president of the Citoyens de Carnon collective, is one of the spearheads of this anger. “We are not necessarily for the total free parking in Carnon”, because the financial windfall that the passages to the parking meter represent can possibly “improve the daily life of the inhabitants in the year”, confides this Carnonnais to 20 minutes.
But, he laments, the annual subscriptions offered for residents are far too expensive. For individuals, it will be necessary to pay 20 euros for a car, 100 euros for the second, and 200 euros for an additional car. For professionals, it is even more expensive: 100 euros for the first vehicle and 200 euros for a second. “We would like the same prices to be set up as in Palavas-les-Flots, that is to say 20 euros per year and per vehicle, for individuals or professionals, continues Serge Wolniewicz. These are reasonable rates. Otherwise, we are going to suicide: Carnon will become a dead station, in a short time. The Citoyens de Carnon collective hopes to “start a discussion [avec la mairie], continues its president. Otherwise, we will initiate proceedings in court. »
An appeal to the administrative court
Citizen Alternative did not wait: the opposition group to the municipal council filed an appeal against this measure before the administrative court on Monday. “In the summer, we know that we have to do something,” said Marianne Pelletier (without label), one of the elected representatives of this group, during the municipal council on February 13. But in winter, for this municipal councilor, it’s useless. “Visitors to Carnon, in winter, all year round, are a lot of families and friends, often elderly people, added Daniel Bourguet (without label), member of the same group. These people, what are they going to do? They will have to pay, dearly, each time they come to visit them? »
Citizen Alternative requests, in particular, that parking be paid only from June 15 to September 15, when the station is crowded. And that the car park at the beaches, where the carnival was located, remains free, all year round. These opponents of the mayor also ask, like the Citizens of Carnon collective, that a flat rate of 20 euros per vehicle be put in place. And that’s all. But for Yvon Bourrel, 20 euros for the first car, then 100 euros for a second, isn’t that expensive. “For a family with two cars, this represents 10 euros per month, notes the elected official. Does that really seem excessive to you? But the elected official is open to discussions with the inhabitants of Carnon and professionals. “We will make improvements,” he said. Once amended, the terms and conditions for the implementation of paid parking will be voted on at the next municipal council. But until then, the debate promises to be heated.