The enormous delay in lighting for this Val-d'Oise college: why the file is slipping

A long-term file! The 10th^e Argenteuil college, in Val-d'Oise, expected in Val-Notre-Dame, near the Dassault Aviation factory, and which will help relieve congestion at other colleges in the city, is long overdue!

The municipal council adopted, on December 17, a deliberation relating to an expropriation, “for reasons of public utility”, in order to “close the perimeter of the college”, explained the mayor of Argenteuil Georges Mothron (Dvd), admitting that “it’s true, this 10^e college, we’ve been talking about it for some time now.”

Camille Gicquel, assistant for town planning, developments and major urban projects, recalled that “demographic pressure” imposes the construction of this college in the sector of the Porte-Saint-Germain.

The Department having made the decision in 2019 to build this 10^e college, the City had to provide the necessary land, as is tradition.

This is where the problem lies.

At the corner of avenues du Château, du Parc and Henri-Barbusse, the future college will cover 7,800 square meters of land. Several plots have been identified.

“The majority of them have been the subject of an amicable transfer or are in the process of being so”, specified Camille Gicquel. However, for three others, negotiations continue, “without agreement to date”.

Towards a declaration of public utility?

To meet deadlines, the City now wishes to initiate a procedure of declaration of public utility with the prefect, which includes a public inquiry.

“And if necessary request an expropriation order. This tenth college is a priority for our city,” insists Camille Gicquel.

“The City has fallen considerably behind when other cities have moved forward. Cergy opened its college in 2023 »

“This file, again, is symbolic of your inertia during two mandates,” tackled from the outset Marine Chailloux, opposition municipal councilor (Eelv), elected from the Socialist and ecological group. “Once again, nothing has happened for ten years and the City has once again fallen considerably behind when other cities have moved forward. When the decision was taken at the Department in 2019 to install a college in this district, it also authorized, at the same time, the construction of a college for Cergy, which opened… in September 2023. And Argenteuil, nothing. You wasted time and allowed college students to crowd into the surrounding establishments.” Then the elected official accused the City of having, initially, “attempted to reforward, that’s the term, polluted land, to the Department. Not crazy, the Department which did not want to take charge of the large sums of pollution control, obviously refused this poisoned gift.”

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Today, the difficulties are linked to land belonging to an association:

“As early as 2014, you criticized the former municipality for renting a temporary building to Muslims while they could build their mosque. You forced them to buy this building in 2016, and now you (…) want to expropriate them. You suggested that they go to another building 300 m away in Dassault, assuring them that the City would do the work there, without saying which ones (…) The Muslims have always agreed to leave for a project of general interest, the college. 1,500 students and families use the classrooms and academic support rooms. You cannot suddenly evict these families. Our group is obviously for a 10th college. We also know that an 11th college is missing. But this project cannot be done to the detriment of residents. »

Apart from this point, the opposition group considers that the project “is not satisfactory. There are not enough breathing spaces or a big enough courtyard. This project is locked in the neighborhood, on a plot that is clearly too small. We are therefore asking for a real discussion between the City, the mosque and the owners of the homes.”

Francis Gabouleaud, municipal councilor (Pcf) of the Argenteuil Solidaire et Écologique opposition group, said he shared his colleague's analysis.

“At least three years have been lost. Students, teachers and administrative staff are paying the price, particularly at Paul-Vaillant-Couturier and Jean-Jacques Rousseau colleges. »

The mayor, Georges Mothron, explained that

“when we compare Argenteuil to Cergy and Bezons, we are not in the same context. In Cergy we are in an area which has land, which Argenteuil, which is located in a dense area, no longer has. As for Bezons, he has the chance, if I may say so, to recycle a high school to turn it into a college. Good for them but there will be one less high school in Bezons.”

Polluted land

On the question of the land, the mayor stressed that the studies carried out “jointly” with the Department on the Pirelli tires concluded that this site was rejected due to excessive pollution. The elected official then mentioned a piece of land on which an agreement had been reached on rue Michel-Carré, but a “change in general director of services” caused the Department to “step back”, according to the elected official, due to “a problem of floodability, which has nevertheless been settled concerning the Ronceray de Bezons high school« .

“Argenteuil does not have potato or beet land like Cergy”

“Argenteuil does not have land for potatoes or beets like Cergy (Editor's note, the Cergy college was built on the Linandes plain). We had to find areas to free up. The so-called Dassault mosque association has been in talks with us for a number of years. I prefer, for security reasons, that we start with the possibility of expropriation, so that the deadlines are respectable and respected.”

A college for 2027?

The City still mentions on its website an opening in 2027 for 700 middle school students. The investment was estimated in 2022 at 18.2 million euros.

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