“It has become a matter of money…” At the Châteauroux Métropole community council, expenses for the Games make the opposition cough

One month to the day of the kick-off in Châteauroux, the Olympic and Paralympic Games (JOP) were once again invited to the 30^e community council of the mandate, Tuesday June 25, 2024, where they provoked several reactions from the opposition.

Work “which would not necessarily have been implemented”

First, during the presentation of the single financial account, the new presentation of the local accounts, during which Danielle Faure and David Navarro in turn called for a precise assessment of the financial participation of the agglomeration in these Games, “for 2023 but also for 2024, both in investment and in operation”. Because, according to the first named, “work was carried out, not necessarily marked for the Olympic Games, but which would not have been implemented if this event had not taken place in the urban area”. “Most of the investments made for the JOPs will be long-lasting and will have positive consequences well beyond the Games”Jean-Yves Hugon assures him. “Yes, these Olympic Games have a cost, but it is exceptional, for his part justified Philippe Simonet. It’s a historic, global event that we would never have hoped to have in a medium-sized town like Châteauroux! »

Receiving costs on the rise

Danielle Faure also noted reception costs planned in the forecast budget at €19,320 which increased to €58,320: “I can’t help but think that these operating expenses are due to the JOPs. In this event, sport is secondary, it has become a matter of money”. Remarks which had the gift of annoying Marc Fleuret: “The Games are a state of mind and an international event that everyone hopes to have on their territory; but here, you never stop criticizing! At some point, we all have to move in the same direction”.

€100,000 to beautify the Bessonneau hangars

This did not prevent the opposition representative from intervening again, during the vote on a subsidy of €100,000 to the French Shooting Federation (FFT) for work to beautify the Bessonneau hangars located at entrance to the site of the National Shooting Sports Center (CNTS), out of a total amount of work estimated at more than €176,000 for this building: “I understand that these hangars, very military in spirit, are a little off-putting, given their abandoned state for many years. But the federation does not discover it […]. To give it a subsidy representing half of the bill for beautification and not an investment is to treat the communities as money-grubbers.”.

A sum to be compared to the 33 million euros invested by the FFT across the entire CNTS, for Marc Fleuret. And “a fair participation of the urban area in a facility which generates quite a few economic benefits throughout the year (nearly 35,000 nights per year estimated by the A2i)”, according to Gil Avérous. The president of the agglomeration further specifies that this building houses the Keolis autonomous mobility test center, which stores its shuttles and buses there, and that “It welcomes engineers and interested visitors throughout the year to see the development of these shuttles”.