Par
Jérôme Cavaretta
Published on
Dec 6 2024 at 6:40 p.m.
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It's one of the most beautiful spots in the city. A jewel of which the people of Cergy have been deprived for 36 years with the exception of very rare visits authorized as part of heritage days. But this ban on enjoying a remarkable and little-noticed site is, perhaps, just a matter of time.
The Saint-Christophe park, this 35-hectare setting dedicated to businesses which neighbors the Major Axis, could very soon be revealed. Admire its breathtaking panorama which overlooks the leisure island as well as the loop of the Oise and stretches to La Défense and Paris. A breathtaking perspective. A feast for the eyes invisible to ordinary mortals.
As part of its new Local Urban Plan, which will be subject to public inquiry in the first quarter of 2025, the final step before its final adoption, the City of Cergy (Val-d'Oise) has decided to classify Saint-Christophe Park in the waiting area for the overall development project (Papag).
Invisible to ordinary mortals
Behind this barbaric acronym hides a municipal ambition: “to freeze construction for a maximum of five years while awaiting a project so as to be able to move forward with serenity and without rushing”.
“What is at stake is to return all or part of the site to the benefit of the people of Cergy who have been deprived of it since the beginning,” explains Eric Nicollet, Ps deputy for planning. We are here to shape the future of Cergy and there is a point which was not on the radar screens at the time we prescribed the revision of the Plu in 2021 but which has gained in importance, it is the future of this park. »
Born in 1988 thanks to the installation of Spie Batignolles (read below), Saint-Christophe Park is a private domain which does not show itself. “Few Cergys residents have gone there and for good reason, it is a park which is fenced and access to which is controlled,” explains the deputy. It is becoming clear that developments need to be considered regarding its future. This is an awareness shared by the owners of the site. »
Thanks to Papag, the City of Cergy now has a space for reflection to imagine the future. By prohibiting nothing or almost nothing and especially not from exploring the very broad spectrum of possibilities.
“The challenge,” explains Eric Nicollet, “is to think about what we must do, what part of the activities must be maintained, what addition of housing construction must be decided, how far to go, especially how far not to go, what are the issues around maintaining the landscape qualities of this sector which are real, how to take advantage of the joint ownership of the site with the Major Axis and the Paris esplanade and this urban balcony overlooking the ponds. »
Until now the preserve of businesses, Saint-Christophe Park could very soon re-examine its vocation. “The current regulation indicates that it is exclusively focused on activity, informs the elected official of the development, but we can make it evolve thanks to a modification of the Plu depending on what is decided. The only rule is that you must have converged within five years. » In other words, decide or not to return one of the most beautiful sites in Cergy to its inhabitants.
At the origins
Saint-Christophe Park was designed by and for Spie Batignolles. It is this story with twists and turns that Vincent Girard recounts in his book It was the New Town, an account of the founding of Cergy-Pontoise published in 2002 by Somogy Editions d'art.
Mid-1980s: the new town of Cergy-Pontoise rolls out its asphalt under the aegis of the Public Development Establishment. It has come to the ears of the Epa that Spie is “considering creating a head office in the greater Parisian suburbs”. Immediately, sensing a very good move and the thousands of jobs at stake, its director at the time, Claude Robert, spoke with Georges de Buffévent, CEO of Spie. Land on the banks of the Oise, straddling Vauréal and Cergy, was offered to the company. Privatization of the Gérard-Philipe house and the banks over several hundred meters, expropriation of an institute for unsuitable children but also a halt to the construction of the Major Axis: the affair crystallizes the oppositions.
Moulin
Six months pass and the Epa announces to Spie that “the operation is impossible”. But the developer has one last trump card up his sleeve: a 35-hectare natural site located overlooking the banks of the Oise, designed around a large body of water and occupied by an old mill. The CEO of Spie “travels to see the new site. He makes the creation of the new headquarters a personal matter”. The panorama finally convinced him: banco!
“The establishment of Spie involves a profound overhaul of the town planning plans of the plateau. The site, certainly the most beautiful in Cergy, was dedicated to an operation of tall buildings with a breathtaking view of the Oise valley. negotiations, particularly financial, will last two more years. In 1998, Spie moved to Cergy. Saint-Christophe Park was born.
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