Gift card reimbursement, questions, profiles: what we know about recruiting citizens for the Montpellier-Perpignan LGV workshops

La future ligne SNCF inclut la construction d'un viaduc à Poussan. – Montage photo ALT

La recherche de quarante citoyens du territoire est lancée, dans le but de prendre part, en 2025, aux futurs ateliers en lien avec la construction future d'un viaduc à Poussan.

We remember that the consultation meeting on November 7 in Poussan on the passage of the New Montpellier-Perpignan Line (LNMP) and the creation of a viaduct in this town was very stormy. At the end, the ballot box intended to collect the application forms for the next citizen workshops contained only about ten copies.

READ ALSO – “It is no longer a consultation but a power struggle”: the meeting on the Montpellier-Perpignan LGV line turns sour in Poussan

Not enough to make the project owner, SNCF Réseaux, back down. Even accused by opponents of the project of wanting to propose “colouring workshops”, she will set up three citizen workshops in 2025 (read below). The recruitment of citizens began in mid-November. Forty residents of the territory are sought. In detail, fifteen on application during the famous meeting of November 7. Five from the citizen institutions of the territory. Then, twenty chosen by a professional recruitment firm.

A private firm requested

The recruiter in question is Stephenson Etudes. A professional firm “independent, in order to ensure neutrality of profiles and representativeness of participants”, underlines SNCF Réseaux, contacted on the subject. Twenty adult women and men are thus sought, living only in Sète, Balaruc-le-Vieux, Balaruc-les-Bains, Gigean, Bouzigues or Poussan. “These firms are able to apply the Insee criteria of the territory”, underlines the project owner, for whom the objective is to “collect the opinions of all, regardless of their age, gender, socio-professional categories”. The stated aim is to “enrich the consultation process by allowing the involvement of the “silent majority” who often, due to a lack of information, solicitation or appropriation of the proposed approaches, do not express themselves in the more traditional consultation mechanisms”.

200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000

Three citizen workshops in 2025

IN PRACTICE Three sessions of citizen workshops will be organized in 2025 “to ensure a good understanding of the project and long-term work”. The first session will be held on January 11, with the presentation of the approach and the project, a site visit, the identification of themes, the choice of experts to be heard. Session 2 will take place on March 15, with the hearing of experts, the lessons learned, the division into subgroups by theme and the first recommendations. Session 3 will take place on May 24, in order to finalize the recommendations, establish priorities and validate the recommendations. “The role of citizens is to construct a reasoned opinion declining on several themes the recommendations and recommendations of the inhabitants of the territory”, summarizes SNCF Réseaux. The document will be attached to the specifications of the call for tenders for the co-construction market of the Poussan viaduct, then integrated into the international architecture competition that will be launched. The winning architect must agree to consult and follow him “as far as possible”, specifies the SNCF.

The documents relating to these meetings are online on the project website www.ligne-montpellier-perpignan.com.

“What do you think in 2 words of the new Montpellier-Perpignan line ?”

Stephenson Etudes works on a database of panellist lists. “These residents have given their consent in advance to be contacted for panel procedures, surveys, tests…”, indicates SNCF Réseaux. In an LNMP survey email that we had access to, Stephenson Etudes asks respondents for their first/last name, gender, age, telephone number, profession, address, as well as a 7th question: “What do you think in 2 words of the new Montpellier-Perpignan line ?”.

Reimbursed €200 in Illicado gift cards

Email in which it is specified that citizens are reimbursed up to €200 in Illicado gift cards for their participation in the three workshops. “In order to cover travel expenses, possible childcare, etc., notes SNCF Réseaux. This also allows us to value, even modestly, the time spent and the work done.” The maximum total cost will therefore be €8,000. Well, that's if the forty citizens are found. Something that is still far from being a given given the persistent opposition and the recent positioning of the mayors of Sète Agglo. On November 29, they asked the Prime Minister for a complete re-examination of the file…

I subscribe to read the rest