They will soon be ready to return to sea. The promoters of the Canua Island floating private beach, blocked at the dock since May for lack of the necessary authorizations, have finally obtained from the courts that they be delivered to them, they announced this Friday. Seized of two summary proceedings, the administrative court of Nice ordered the maritime prefecture of the Mediterranean and that of Alpes-Maritimes to provide the company with the navigation and shipping permits it lacked.
This summer, the ship, criticized by elected officials and associations, was unable to settle off the coast of Mandelieu-la-Napoule, near Cannes, where those responsible hoped to accommodate up to 350 people per day.
“The state’s decisions were completely illegal and it is gratifying that he was convicted. They had dramatic consequences with the loss of the 100 jobs that we had planned, but also for us. Personally, I have found myself without salary for four months,” reacted Marc Audineau, the general director of the company, interviewed by 20 minutes. He recalls that the operation, put on hold, had mobilized “public funds through a participation and guarantees granted by Bpifrance and by the Paca region, to the tune of more than €3.6 million in total “.
“Illegitimate instructions”
A first decision, rendered on August 7, ordered the Mediterranean maritime prefecture to issue a navigation permit, “which it did the next day,” according to Marc Audineau. On Wednesday, the administrative court of Nice also “ordered the prefect of Alpes-Maritimes, within fifteen days, to issue to the company the license to equip the vessel”, according to the order consulted by 20 minutes. This Friday, the company had not yet had any news.
The summary judge notes that “the arguments based on an error of law and a manifest error of assessment are likely to create serious doubt as to the legality of the contested decision”. According to the initiators of Canua Island, it would have been established that “the State had illegally decided not to issue these authorizations for reasons absolutely unrelated to the safety of the vessel and for reasons linked to illegitimate instructions from the Secretary of State responsible for of the sea “. “This is what emerges from an email sent by the prefecture,” confirms 20 minutes Me Emmanuel Vital-Durand, the plaintiffs’ lawyer.
On June 1, Hervé Berville had in any case skyrocketed a project “which is neither done nor to be redone” and which appeared, according to him, “as hardly compatible with the need to strengthen environmental protection sailor”. The position of the minister had joined those of his colleague in the Ecological Transition, local residents and elected officials, the president of the Paca region and several mayors of the Côte d’Azur in the lead. Only that of Mandelieu-la-Napoule, LR Sébastien Leroy, had confirmed his support for this private floating beach, unique in France and whose anchorage was planned in its bay.
“The State will have to pay”
Is this still on the agenda today? For next summer? “We now have the right to exploit it. But we need to talk to our associates to find out what they want to do. We will have to refinance, explains Marc Audineau. The platform is still currently docked at Seyne-sur-Mer [où elle est stationnée depuis la fin du mois de mai] and all that costs us money, between the port square and the two sailors on site. The State will have to pay. »A new procedure could therefore still be launched.
In Mandelieu-la-Napoule, critics of the project had also warned that they were ready to go to court if the artificial island of 1,750 m2 was exploited. Installed on a trimaran 41 m long by 31 m wide, this platform which has dozens of deckchairs, a lounge bar, a restaurant, a luxury suite of 45 m2 and even a fresh water swimming pool, is a “ ecological aberration,” according to them. “As soon as the prefect has authorized the anchorage, this decision will be the subject of an interim procedure before the administrative court,” warned Mr. Eric Lanzarone, the lawyer for the Syllau association, set up by individuals.
They particularly feared the “incessant ballet” of shuttles necessary to transfer customers from the mainland to Canua island. The promoters continue to defend “an eco-designed, carbon-free ship, generating three times fewer emissions during construction than a Vendée Globle sailboat”. “We don’t yet know when and where we will settle down. We also had contacts on the Gulf of Saint-Tropez side,” explains Marc Audineau.