Côtes-d’Armor. The extension of the Ibis hotel along the RN12 divides elected officials in Guingamp

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The fourth item on the agenda of the municipal council this Monday 18, namely the transfer of land in the town of Ploumagoar with a view to the extension of the Ibis hotel by the town of Guingamp (Côtes-d'Armor) , caused apprehensions and consequently a long debate.

“A speculative deliberation”

When the third deputy Marie-Agnès Pogam-Piriou, designated as rapporteur, reads the deliberation, grimaces distort some faces. Mayor Philippe Le Goff then asks if anyone wants to speak and it doesn't take long for hands to go up.

“The deliberation is imprecise and partial,” believes Roger Hervé. According to the minority municipal councilor, it is not based on “nothing concrete. »

His counterpart, Gaël Roblin, from the Guingamp minority in common, supports the statement: “There is no survey from the economic center to attest to the necessity of this deliberation. » He then highlighted the absence of information around it.

Its form is summary and incomplete, we are told nothing about the scale of the project as a whole. Twelve lines is starving!

The opposition then questions the mayor on his previous position concerning the installation of the Burger King fast-food restaurant. Roger Hervé considers his two positions paradoxical. The mayor explains that they have nothing to do with each other: “There is an important fundamental question. For the Burger King, it was a residential house that was going to become a food place, whereas here, we are talking about densifying an already existing activity. »

Gaël Roblin remains in his positions regarding the form: “I am not talking about ideological bias, because we would never agree and that is what makes this council rich, but the deliberation is not consistent . » So, as an “outstretched hand”, he suggests not voting right away.

His recommendation was not listened to and the deliberation was voted on with only three votes against.

Respond to tourist attraction

“The building permit was issued by the municipality of Ploumagoar and, already, opponents had taken their discontent to court. But they ended up giving it up, since there was not enough basis in their opposition to call the permit into question,” the mayor points out, who then draws on the case of a neighboring town.

Pontivy has increased its hotel offering and the Morbihan tourist office has managed to quantify the benefits. We observe the concrete increase in tourism, this corresponds to an additional 500,000 euros circulating in the territory per year

For the mayor, responding to the tourist attraction of the area is a logical continuation of his policy. “I remind you that in 2023, tourism saw growth of 4% in Brittany, but many people do not stop in Guingamp, because there is insufficient hotel capacity,” he argues.

And while he understands that “everyone asserts their rights,” he fears “missing something.” » Especially since the Ibis hotel is located between the RN12 and the city center, a key location, with a lot of road traffic every day.

“We have the right to question ourselves without being suspected of wanting to destroy the local economy,” annoys Gaël Roblin.

A saturation of the hotel market

When Philipe Le Goff is questioned by the opposition on the ethics of such a project which would allow “the Ibis chain, which sits alongside the Cac 40, to swallow up local hoteliers who have bet on the city center of Guingamp », Marie-Agnès Pogam-Piriou intervenes. “When you open a new restaurant, those who already own one could come and rebel because tables are being stolen from them. But they don’t,” she retorts.

The mayor then insists on the obvious saturation of the hotel market. Another assistant to speak, Peggy Corbel: “When we are on call and we have to accommodate someone, we call all the hotels in the city and often, there is not a free room. It happened to me again last week,” she assures.

Philippe Le Goff reacts with the example of Rémy Guillou, the mayor of Plouisy. The latter had regretted not having managed to find a place in a hotel for a family, following the fire of their mansion. “And it was outside of school term, in the middle of the week,” insists Philippe Le Goff.

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