Encouraged at the time by Bernard Baumelou, today chief of staff of Nîmes Métropole, the La Grande Provence association has just been dissolved. In question? A lack of political will to develop the famous “golden triangle” territory.
Last Monday, in community council, the elected officials of Nîmes metropolis voted to dissolve the “La Grande Provence” association. Officially launched in 2018, its aim was to initiate cooperation between the communities of the “golden triangle”. That is to say, the intercommunalities of Nîmes, Avignon and Arles, stuck between Montpellier, Lyon and Marseille.
The idea is to develop cooperation rather than competition to work together on economic development, tourism and higher education. Several meetings were held at the Pont du Gard, at Fourques or at the Colisée headquarters of Nîmes metropolis. The operation of the structure did not incur any financial cost for the protagonists. For the record, at the time, one of the active members of La Grande Provence was called Bernard Baumelou. He is the chief of staff of the president of Grand Avignon Jean-Marc Roubaud before landing in 2020 with Franck Proust, new president of Nîmes métropole.
Only in 2021, the health crisis put a stop to the activity of La Grande Provence. After the renewal of certain executives, a source deplores: “ There was no strong desire to work together “. The Arlesian territory, however, maintains good relations with Nîmes, having recently joined the local public company SPL Agate. Put forward by certain elected officials, the golden triangle above all resembles a chimera. The burial of this association illustrates this perfectly.
