The smell is pestilential. Unbreathable. It takes you from the ground floor to the fourth and last floor of the L'Esplanade residence, in Draguignan. Residents say they have been suffering from sewage fumes for almost a year.
Disgusted and sorry, Martine Chenusson never put up with it: “When it rains, you can smell it even in the street. It comes from the underground car park. The wastewater pipes have been badly damaged since the fire which ravaged the basement on the night of November 23 to 24, 2023. “
She takes as proof a letter sent by her lessor, the Logis famille Varois. The lady remembers being woken up with a start by the firefighters at 3 a.m. “We were able to quickly return home, but we no longer had any water. We had to get supplies and shower at the Maison des sports et de la jeunesse for a week and a half!” The power was restored the following evening.
But since the disaster, the elevator has been acting up. “It’s been down a few times.” Rebelote around mid-October.
“Cables would be lying around in the water”
Problematic. Especially since the tenant, who lives on the third floor of building E, is disabled. “It's unbearable. I have leg problems. I have a lot of trouble moving around and going down the stairs.” Martine Chenusson assures that she contacted the lessor several times. In vain. “I had the opportunity to meet the technician. He said that he could not intervene if he did not have access to the basement. Cables would be lying there in the water…”
The locked basement
The danger is unverifiable. The underground car park has been inaccessible for almost a year. The doors were locked, the handles removed and, outside, grilles were welded to the facade to discourage those who would be tempted to force the gate. Obviously, no restoration work has been undertaken in all this time. The black soot is still visible on the ceilings…
Despite everything, Martine Chenusson continues to pay the 105.30 euros of current charges. “They have increased recently. This is unacceptable. I am paying for a parking space that I cannot use.” While she struggles to get around, she sometimes has to walk for a long time to reach her car, which she parks several dozen meters from her home. “Sometimes I have to walk hundreds of meters in the neighborhood. That’s enough!”
