On Wednesday June 26, 2024, the neighborhood meeting dedicated to downtown Chartres was held. Shops, tree felling, works… Many subjects were discussed by elected officials.
The tone rose on the evening of Wednesday, June 26, at the downtown neighborhood meeting. It was hosted by the mayor of Chartres, Jean-Pierre Gorges and his deputy in charge of improving the living environment, Guillaume Bonnet.
What points were raised at the Bel-Air neighborhood meeting in Chartres?
Closed shops
A former shopkeeper from Chartres – manager of Roche Bobois for 25 years – questioned the mayor on the number of store closures in the city center. In recent years, “59 stores have closed their doors”, according to her calculations. In particular because of “the price of rents being too high” or “the deterioration of the buildings”. “Imagine the dismay of all the shopkeepers, your role is to make the city center prosper, but it is dying”, she exclaims.
A thought that had the gift of exasperating the mayor. “There are 810 shopkeepers in the city centre,” he told him. “The shops that are ceasing to operate are franchises. At least 30 premises have facades that are collapsing, are you going to attribute that to me? Business is private, is it the mayor’s fault? And if the rents are too expensive, we shouldn’t have set up shop.” Jean-Pierre Gorges added that “online orders with free returns” are slowly killing clothing shops. “In Chartres, we have one shop for every 49 inhabitants, while in an average town, it’s one shop for every 83 inhabitants!”Jean-Pierre Gorges and Guillaume Bonnet answered questions from residents living in downtown Chartres.
A petition to save the trees
A resident also spoke out against “the felling of all the trees around the cathedral”. He recalls that a petition is currently circulating, asking the mayor to “review the development project for the esplanade following the conditions set by the National Commission for Architecture and Heritage”. The mayor informs that this project has been voted on three times unanimously by the commission.
Housing and security at the heart of discussions at the Saint-Chéron neighborhood meeting, in Chartres
Damaged sidewalks
“Rue Muret, the sidewalks are broken,” says a resident. “The sidewalks will be removed and the streets redone,” replies the mayor. “Before, 3,000 vehicles passed per day, so we put temporary bollards. By the end of the year, we will extend the demarcated zone and calm this sector. » Rue Serpente is also one of the streets where sidewalks will be removed. Rue des Vieux-Rapporteurs “is also part of our priorities”. For its part, Saint-Pierre Square should be redone. As for the work on rue du Cheval-Blanc, which has been going on for five years, “we must be able to create a one-way traffic lane”.
Chartres Mayor Announces Construction of Gymnasium at Jeanne-d’Arc Neighborhood Meeting
Medical desert
A resident of Chartres for several years, a woman wonders: “Will a solution be found in the short term for the lack of doctors and specialists? » A health center near the station should see the light of day at the end of 2025, announced the elected officials.
Emma Gomez
