Opponents gathered in front of the Métropole de Lyon

The elected representatives of the Republicans of the Metropolis of Lyon were welcomed like stars. This Monday, September 30, around 180 people according to the prefecture, 500 according to the members of the collective of “defenders of Lyon and Greater Lyon” and around 150 according to the Métropole de Lyon gathered in front of the Hôtel de Métropole while there holds the metropolitan council, to voice their opposition to the environmentalist executive’s urban redevelopment projects.

Philippe Cochet, LR mayor of Caluire-et-Cuire, Jérôme Moroge, LR mayor of Oullins-Pierre-Bénite and Gilles Gascon, LR mayor of Saint-Priest, went to meet the demonstrators, welcomed by applause. The first of them”knows that there is fighting throughout the territories of the Metropolis of Lyon. Fights that are not individual“. To the acclamation of the crowd, he salutes this mobilization to denounce: “The metropolitan vision is not shared by the majority of residents of Greater Lyon“.

Major urban projects in Greater Lyon contested

The opponents are therefore demanding to be heard by the environmentalists of the Metropolis and the City of Lyon, considering that urban projects such as the Limited Traffic Zone planned on the Presqu’île and the Voies Lyonnaises are being implemented at a forced pace. “Nothing will be acceptable anymore. People no longer want to come to the city center, to the Presqu’île. But it’s the eye of the storm. Everywhere else, it’s the same: Oullins, Villeurbanne… “, deplores Anne Delaigle, representative of the Défenseurs de Lyon collective.

Read also: Pedestrianization of Lyon: “we’re playing a bit of a sorcerer’s apprentice”

In Oullins-Pierre-Bénite, for example, the work in the Bussière district was denounced by the Passez votre chemin collective, represented by its initiator Jean-Noël Potin: “The work has completely disrupted life in the neighborhood. The fairgrounds are leaving. In front of my house, people pass the third (by car). It’s just hell!“According to the collectives from the different neighborhoods united behind this movement, more than 50,000 petitioners have been registered.

A meeting proposal refused by the collective

While the metropolitan council was being held at the same time, the Métropole de Lyon offered to the collective to be received as a delegation by four vice-presidents: Fabien Bagnon, in charge of mobility; Émeline Beaume, shops; Béatrice Vessiller, from town planning; and Laurence Boffet, citizen initiatives. Invitation refused by the collective. “We want (Bruno) Bernard“, the demonstrators even chanted. Furthermore, the Metropolis indicates to Lyon Capital that the president stands “at their disposal for an upcoming meeting“.

Read also: 23 million euros to continue the development of the Presqu’île in Lyon

“Anyone in this Metropolis has the right to express their feelings, their impressions, their concerns. (…) There, there is a mode of expression. And it’s good that he can stand“, agrees elected official Emeline Baume. Responsible in particular for citizen participation, Laurence Boffet continues: “The Presqu’île has one advantage, which is that we don’t just come to consume. We come there because it’s beautiful, because culturally, it’s important. (…) We are very attentive to this. Et we also put in place solutions following their feedback (the collectives) on the finesse required for monitoring the work, the studies they ask of us, etc. I understand the concerns. But we are here so that public power allows everyone to develop peacefully“.

Read also: Pedestrianization: is Lyon closing?