Five projects selected as part of the first participatory budget of the City of Millau

15 projets ont été reçus par la Ville de Millau. Midi libre – Maxime Cohen

Ce lundi 9 décembre, la Ville de Millau a dévoilé les cinq projets retenus dans le cadre du budget participatif lancé cette année.

La première édition du budget participatif mis en place par la ville de Millau a été timide. “We ask for a little indulgence because even if it exists in quite a few communities, it takes time for the population to take ownership of it and that is one of the reasons why the calendar has been quite disrupted, admits Valentin Artal, elected to Citizenship. It took time for citizens to take hold of it and for services to analyze the files.”

Indeed, for this first, announced in the municipal council earlier this year, 15 files were received by the municipal services. Seven of them did not meet the conditions to be eligible. Five have been selected for this budget line and three others will be supported in a different way.

The overall budget provided by the City (€150,000 including tax) has not been exceeded, which is why there was no citizen vote to select the funded projects. “It's a bit like a school for fans,” smiles Emmanuelle Gazel, Mayor of Millau. “Everyone is selected. However, we would have really liked there to be this competitive bidding phase, it would have been nice. A new participatory budget will be set up in 2026 for completion in 2027.”

A secure route to Graufesenque

The first project will be the one led by Sébastien Daurès. It consists of establishing a secure connection, on the left bank of the Tarn, between Graufesenque and the eastern part of Maladrerie, where the municipal greenhouses are located, in order to avoid taking the road on this section, as is the case. “The ideal would be to carry it out before the summer of 2025, a time of year when the place is busiest”, supports Laurent Carrière, the city's director of technical services. Estimated cost: €30,000.

The renovation of public toilets

The second is supported by Jean Milleville, for the renovation of the city's public toilets. “Despite daily cleaning, the toilets are in a dirty state, he regrets. I think it's something important for the city's image.” An inventory will be carried out to prioritize the work. Estimated cost: €30,000.

Cleaning statues and monuments

Philippe Bouffelière suggested the idea of ​​cleaning the statues and pedestals in the Malraux and Victoire parks. “This is part of the enhancement of the city's heritage and attractiveness”, he supports. Costly operations on such works. “With €30,000 we will have difficulty renovating a single bust, so we will see how the cleaning is done with the heritage curator”, explains Emmanuelle Gazel.

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The Ayrolle washhouse in the heritage lottery ?

During this presentation of the projects, the mayor of Millau announced that the Ayrolle washhouse would be a candidate for the heritage lottery, a scheme supported by Stéphane Bern. Philippe Bouffelière would have liked it to be renovated with the statues in his proposal. "It should be a candidate for the heritage lottery", dropped Emmanuelle Gazel, explaining that the cost would have largely exceeded the 30,000 of the participatory budget.

Revitalization of the boulevard de la Capelle

Pierre Barbaud, for his part, preached for a revitalization of the boulevard de la Capelle. “The idea was to change the direction of parking, to widen the sidewalk, often cluttered by vans that overflow, like on the road,” presented Emmanuelle Gazel, in the absence of the person concerned. “90% of the available surface is dedicated to parking or car traffic,” he describes in his application. Often, there is only one meter left for pedestrians to pass and sometimes 70 cm in the case of vans or SUVs. It is difficult for two pedestrians to pass side by side. Sometimes strollers cannot pass.” As the operation would be much more expensive than the maximum amount allocated per project under the participatory budget (€30,000), this sum will be used to carry out the feasibility study with a “focus on the repair of networks and surface development”. This will be followed by surface work to redevelop the boulevard, in the same vein as what was done at Ayrolle and what is planned for the boulevard de la République.

A bicycle counter totem

Finally, the fifth selected project was initiated by Léana Lapointe. It consists of installing a terminal to count bicycle passages. “Every time a cyclist passes in front of an Eco-totem, the change in the meter is a small personal satisfaction, she argues. It’s a fun way to encourage cycling. I have already seen some and when it is February, when it is cold and you see that you are the 3000th to pass by for example, it is something!” It should be installed on routes used only by cyclists and not by motorized two-wheelers (the counter does not make the difference). Estimated cost: €10,000.

Outside the participatory budget but supported

Then, in this pile of projects, some were not included in the participatory budget, for various reasons. They will however be supported by the city, by other means. The example of Jean-Simon Giafferi, who imagined the implementation of a one-way street on rue du Pont de iron. “I didn't think it would cost tens of thousands of euros,” he says ironically. I thought that all it took was installing a sign and that would be it.” “There was already €50,000 earmarked for the budget orientation debate for this area,” continues Emmanuelle Gazel. Here too, the water networks need to be redone and the sidewalks will be brought up to standard and facilities will be put in place to limit vehicle speeds.”

Raymond Cassan's project was not included in the investment expenses but in the operating expenses, which was a criterion for being selected. It involves connecting garden owners who can no longer maintain them and gardeners looking for a plot of land to take care of. “It brings so many things, people are alone and could see someone and have a good time.” The City will therefore open a file to list people interested in this system in order to put them in touch relation.

Then, the last project outside the participatory budget selected is that of a shuttle to the Bonniol leisure center. It is led by Agnès Cayrel who noted this lack of accessibility to the leisure center for families without vehicles. “It will be supported as part of the City's policy, assures Emmanuelle Gazel. The second phase of the call for projects will be launched and the idea of ​​the shuttle will be there.”