They will come to Montgermont, but not to Bruz (Ille-et-Vilaine). In its view of “national solidarity”, the State wished to welcome homeless people from Ile-de-France in several French territories. In Brittany, this announcement had been the subject of virulent debates. Firstly because the mayor of Bruz, where a reception center was to be erected, had criticized this choice, considering the conditions “unworthy”. The Aurore association, responsible for taking care of it, had also expressed its refusal to practice there.
This plot was finally abandoned, informed the prefecture of Ille-et-Vilaine this Wednesday. Homeless people, on the other hand, will be well received in a former hotel in Montgermont until September. Members of associations were moved to see migrants being evacuated from the structure to make room for other people in precariousness.
Pollution of land too expensive
According to the prefecture, people from Ile-de-France will be welcomed from June 19 in this former hotel in the north of Rennes, which must serve as an “airlock” pending a lasting solution. Every three weeks, “about fifty people who volunteer to join Brittany” will be welcomed there. After examination of the situation, a “reorientation” will be offered to them in the region, in particular in emergency accommodation. Problem: the structures are already ultra-saturated.
The question is what will become of these people in the fall. Promised to be a reception structure for people in precariousness, the former Montgermont hotel should have been emptied in the fall of 2023. It is for this reason that land belonging to the SNCF had been identified in Bruz to accommodate modular homes. The ecological mayor of the city had judged that this place adjoining the railway tracks posed “security problems, but also noise pollution”. He had raised the issue of soil pollution, “which risks causing health problems and potential poisoning of residents”.
The State finally preferred to abandon this option. “Noting that the SNCF Bruz land area initially envisaged would require too heavy investments, in particular due to the pollution of the land, the State decided not to use this plot”. The prefecture is looking for new land in Rennes Métropole that can respond to “an accessibility issue” for future residents and the social workers who will work there.