Ah, Anse Méjean and its fishermen’s huts, its pebble beach bordered by the pine forest, its crystal clear water, its rocks… and its incivility.
“It’s a little paradise for most of the year, but in the summer it becomes a horror”summarizes Julien Mari. It is this clear observation that the new president of the Cap Brun Local Interest Committee served to municipal elected officials, at the end of September, during the CIL general assembly.
Exaggerated? Julien Mari refuses to add any more. A resident of Anse Méjean for 25 years – we say “Méjeannais” – he claims to regularly experience, with local residents, unpleasant situations that part of the population is unaware of. And to list them: excessive speed of cars on the Chemin de la Batterie Basse, vehicles which obstruct access for emergency services, theft, litter, fires on the beach, nighttime noise and other daily nuisances on the coast.
“These are young people who squat on my terrace and who insult me if I call out to them. It’s loud music on boats near the coast. The list is long of incivilities or crimes, assures the one who has already had to file a complaint after threats. And it’s gotten worse and worse over the last few years.”
More than 350 reports drawn up between June 15 and August 15
This summer, three young Canadians were fined because they had pitched their tents and organized a barbecue on the altar… under the pines bordering Notre-Dame-du-Cap-Falcon. Fragile, the remarkable site sees its affluence multiplied as soon as the sunny days arrive. And the worries that go with it.
“The problem is that the City advertises Méjean everywhere, analyzes Julien Mari. But we cannot, on the one hand, want more and more people to go there and, on the other, for the locals to manage the situation alone. Today, the place is clearly the victim of overtourism.”
Asked, the deputy mayor in charge of security, Laurent Jérôme, does not deny the darkness of the picture. But the elected official attests that measures have been taken by the City to control the situation. “We have reinforced the presence of the municipal police in Méjean. Between June 15 and August 15, 350 reports were drawn up. In coordination with the “national”, we will work on being even more present. »
“Reinforced police patrols”
To absorb this massive influx of people from May to September in one of the prettiest spots in Toulon, the municipality has taken other measures in recent years, such as the installation of toilets in the horseshoe parking lot or a parking space counter, recently tested. Four CCTV cameras have also been placed in the area.
Our Méjannais concedes this improvement, but hopes that the authorities will go further. “Reinforced police patrols are needed during the summer monthshe insists. The police must go down to the hamlet and not just stop at the parking lot. Their boat needs to come into the cove more regularly so that a minimum of serenity can be found.”
The fifty-year-old also hopes that one day the different actors working to protect the site will be able to come together around a table and think about sustainable solutions. With this postulate: “It is this overcrowding which generates excesses; it is these excesses which generate tensions; it is these tensions which generate violence.”
In the meantime, Julien Mari is preparing to enjoy a much calmer late season.
