By Thibaut Calatayud
Published on
May 6, 24 at 7:29 p.m.
updated on May 6, 24 at 7:29 p.m.
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It is an industrial wasteland on the outskirts of the city center. Since mid-2015 and the departure of the Guasch company in the Torremila industrial zone, north of Perpignan, the old slaughterhouses of the Saint-Assiscle district are still abandoned.
Located on a large plot of land belonging to the municipality, the old buildings which formerly housed cattle carcasses are in the process of being demolished. A project estimated at one million Euros by the municipality led by Louis Aliot (RN).
9,000 m² of buildings soon to be destroyed
Currently, this land 34,000 m²property of the City of Perpignan, is composed of a municipal annex dedicated to cleanlinessfrom the headquarters of the local police and old abandoned Guasch buildings.
From July, the former slaughterhouses, built on an area of approximately 9,000 m², will be carefully demolished. And for good reason: before destroying everything, it will be necessary to carefully clean up the premises. “There is asbestos on the roof, a pyralene boiler and many neon lights”, lists Xavier Baudry, deputy mayor delegated to the western territory, at News Perpignan.
Operations are expected to start in July. If all goes as planned, they will be completed in October. For a cost estimated at one million euros.
The town hall will sell part of the land
“Contrary to popular belief, the City has little land reserve. There are extremely few large plots of land like this, which belong to the City,” explains Xavier Baudry. However, the City does not plan to retain all of the land.
On this right of way, the town hall has in fact planned to sell a plot of 9,500 m². “The sale price is 1.5 million euros (a price which includes the estimate of 900,000 euros by France-Domaine, but also a contribution to the cost of the decontamination project, editor’s note). This is a commercial project. We are in negotiations with several operators for the future of this site. The goal is to promote it,” assures the elected official.
Over the current decade, Saint-Assiscle could gain “3,000 to 4,000 additional inhabitants”, announces Louis Aliot’s deputy. “Doing a commercial project in this location, given that the population will increase significantly, I think it will meet the expectations of the residents,” he believes.
The City wants to “make this land reserve grow”
During the previous mandate, the City’s town planning workshop had imagined the creation of a third place in the old Guasch buildings. But the investment (10 million euros, not including depollution and connection to certain networks) was too heavy to bear. “It was also planned to keep the old buildings; that would not necessarily have enhanced the site,” explains Xavier Baudry.
Due to the delicate economic context, the Perpignan town hall assumes that it wants ” make it flourish “ this land reserve. “While knowing that the town planning rules on this plot allow us to go up to R+1, or even R+2. We could triple the surface area,” specifies the elected official.
In times of budget shortage, reduction in state allocations and since we have to take care of our municipal finances, we will go to what is most beneficial for the City. […] If we hadn’t had this inflation, perhaps we would have done differently for the slaughterhouses.
Like all French households, communities are also bearing the brunt of rising prices. Particularly on energy. “The additional cost in 2024 is roughly five million euros additional funding from the City budget. To give you an idea, this is the price of the new school group in Saint-Assiscle,” continues Xavier Baudry.
Soon an additional municipal technical center?
Although it intends to cede part of it, the municipality does not intend to completely abandon the site. The municipal police headquarters and the urban cleanliness branch will remain in the current premises.
In addition to financing part of the decontamination and demolition of the old slaughterhouses, the money recovered from the sale of the 9,500 m² plot could finance the creation of a small municipal technical center.
“We realize that our teams from the west and south are forced to cross the Têt to go to the main technical center to, for example, refuel. This would avoid these back and forth trips,” explains the deputy.
Will the Courriers Catalans wasteland accommodate the National Police?
Still in the Saint-Assiscle district, near the SNCF station, the former Courriers Catalans site remains abandoned.
A few years ago, the construction of social housing was considered in place of this wasteland. “The City did not want to add pressure in terms of urban planning and real estate on this sector. In Saint-Assiscle, there has been quite anarchic urbanization, which poses parking problems” explains Xavier Baudry.
The town hall therefore regained control of the plot by purchasing it. The State quickly became interested. The idea? Install a new police station bringing together all the services of the National Police.
“With Mayor Louis Aliot, we are extremely in favor of it. It would be a plus for the neighborhood. It would also make it possible to reduce density in other places, by recovering premises currently occupied by the police. but we are in negotiations with the State”, concludes the elected official.
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