There would also never have been any question of a concession of this public car park by Tournai Expo in the agreement which binds it to the City, confirms Marie-Christine Marghem and Paul-Olivier Delannois who was mayor at the time of the agreements. As a reminder, this car park also serves the Luc-Varenne stadium and not just Tournai Expo.
“We will take the necessary measures”
The organizer of the event, Jeoffrey Hoes, justified himself for having made parking chargeable: “If we asked for 10 euros, it was because we hired a security service to monitor the parking lot.“
For Marie-Christine Marghem, the argument is not valid. “This is not enough to justify charging for access to a public space. The organizers had a budget that came from their own forces, they had to include the cost of security in the price posted for the evening. It’s their commercial offer that is not correct“, estimates the mayor. According to some participants, the information about paid parking did not arrive until “stealthily” on Facebook the day before the event.
Marie-Christine Marghem does not intend to let this oddity pass. “The organizer used a public space to make money. We will take the necessary measures“, she assures.
The mayor also indicates that she will wait for the police report which should arrive next week to find out if other conditions of the municipal authorization have also not been respected.
