This Bordeaux park was occupied by a camp for years, local residents want to reclaim it

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For a little over three years, the Angelica Park of Bordeaux served as a refuge for homeless people. Thursday, November 28, 2024, the police dismantled the camp in this park on the right bank. Since then, local residents have been full of ideas to reclaim it – and prevent the situation from happening again.

Originally, reception assistance installed by associations in agreement with the town hall was supposed to be temporary and accommodate “only” around ten homeless people. But tents had been erected all around.

An experiment that overflowed

When the location was chosen, the buildings were still under construction along Quai Deschamps. But with the move of new residents, relations became conflictual. “We all left each other little exceed”, admitted Estelle Morizot, president and founder of La Maraude du coeur last May.

While the tents had multiplied for many months, local residents were alerted to a “scandalous” situation and a “confiscated” park. From a residence overlooking the park, residents heard screams, barking, saw fires starting, waste and excrement when they walked along the park… on the other side of the street for fear of being attacked. And then, last July, a murder with a pickaxe of a man had shocked the minds of local residents and the homeless in the camp.

The various actors had registered the camp on the government's squat and shanty town clearance platform. At the end of November, the tents were removed and 70 people expelled. They were supported to find solutions, said the prefecture, even if around fifteen refused.

“Who says they won’t resettle? »

For local residents, it was immediately a ” relief “ to see the places vacated. “Finally,” specifies Richard, a resident of the Angéliques collective who estimates having sent “around fifty emails about the situation” since moving in.

But he remains very worried. “Some are rehoused, others not. [La préfecture] opened a reception in the old Benauge barracks but it is temporary. A long-term solution should be found. Who says they won't resettle? “, he asked himself a few weeks later. The residents of the Empreinte residence keep an eye out for the park below.

From their balconies, they check that tents are not being set up again. If so, the telephone is not far away. “Last week, we saw two tents appear. We called the town hall and the police, two hours later they were no longer there. It’s not our place to do that,” sighs Richard.

To reappropriate their park, local residents would like to see developments flourish there. A play area, a sports course all along the park, a basketball backboard, street furniture… They do not hesitate to share their ideas with the town hall.

Launched as soon as the camp was dismantled, the stage of cleaning and securing is underway, confirms Didier Jeanjean, deputy mayor in charge of nature in the city and peaceful neighborhoods. At the same time, municipal services are studying the possibilities of relevant developments for “useful uses to have a benevolent occupation of the premises”.

Understand: if children come to play, supervised by their loved ones, or if athletes use urban equipment, the tents are less able to reappear. The study of the feasibility of the various projects, as well as financing possibilities in an unstable budgetary period, is underway.

The involvement of local residents

The third axis is the involvement of local residents. THE Angéliques collective participates in Bordeaux's participatory budget, with project 6 “The spider of the two bridges” to create a space used by families and local residents on the square in front of their building.

A play area for children (6 to 14 years old) with two “canvases” spider”, ropes high up where they can climb, connected by rope bridges. A botanical path called “sentier des Angéliques” and the pontoon would be developed as part of this project.

The pontoon would be secured, benches would be added, as well as “educational visuals on the role of the river in the regulation of climate and biodiversity,” explains the committee in the project description.

“We often think that participatory democracy it’s the petitions or the opposition, but it’s also the positive involvement of the residents” explains the elected official. Like by participating in the participatory budget, or by proposing adjustments.

On the side of local residents, the participatory budget is the hope of winning the 300,000 euros necessary to carry out their project. But above all, transform their park into a place of life and community, at the same time getting rid of the anxiety of returning from the camp.

In the meantime, they watch with concern the tents which seem to have been set up further on the bank, after the Saint Jean bridge. And the members of the collective made contact with the new residents of the Belvédère district. They count well combine their forces to propose and create living spaces between the two bridges, and take the opportunity to “rehabilitate the right bank of the Garonne”.

The participatory budget vote is open until January 31. Each person votes for 5 projects that are close to their heart. The results will be announced on February 13.

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