“Neither a sounding board for the majority of Sète Agglopôle, nor an expression of all oppositions”: what is the role of the Development Council ?

Bruno Arbouet chairs the Sète Agglopôle Development Council Midi Libre – Patrice Espinasse

The Sète Agglopôle Development Council is meeting in plenary session this Tuesday, December 17. An opportunity to take stock of this participatory body with its president Bruno Arbouet.

The Sète Agglopôle Development Council, which you chair, is holding its plenary assembly this Tuesday, December 17. What will be the main topics discussed? ?

The purpose of the plenary sessions is to take stock of the work undertaken the previous year. There, a majority of citizens wanted a direct dialogue with the elected representatives, who accepted. This Tuesday, five vice-presidents will answer our questions: Jean-Guy Majourel on the high-speed line, Laurence Magne on youth, Michel Garcia on food, Loïc Linarès on development and the coastline and Yves Michel on the issue of water and the pond.

What is the position of the Development Council on the high-speed line? ?

This project now dates back to 2009! We are not opposed to the principle of a high-speed line linking the North to the South of Europe, nor to it crossing our territory. We are open to the subject. On the other hand, we are fiercely opposed to the proposed route, which includes the Poussan viaduct. It must be reviewed for a new route that would become at the same time the high-speed line, the freight line and the line to serve the territory, since the current one will be condemned in the long term by the rising waters. This probably means creating a new multimodal hub around Poussan.

During the first public meeting in Poussan, you even said “you didn't want to take part in a colouring workshop” and spoke of a “denial of democracy”…

That made an impression. In the event that the route is maintained, we have no confidence in the commitments made by the SNCF regarding local service.

We do not dispute the role of elected officials: it is up to them to decide. But we would prefer that they decide, informed by our opinions

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Beyond the laudable objective of citizen participation, what is the real weight of a consultative body thus backed by a community ?

Locally, our role is modest. But it is rather exemplary because here, we have a quality of listening and relationship. We are careful to be neither a sounding board for the majority of the Agglo, nor the expression of all oppositions. We are on a balance, a ridge path. We are in a demanding but peaceful and constructive relationship. We do not dispute the role of elected officials: it is up to them to decide. But we would prefer that they decide, informed by our opinions upstream. On the other hand, if elected officials do not follow our advice, they must explain why and take responsibility. On the LGV, we had taken a position a month ago. Two weeks later, all elected officials followed. I am not going to say that it is thanks to us. But we may have contributed to it, modestly.

Is a Codev a good way to get out of citizen distrust of politicians and engage in participatory democracy??

It seems to us that the more citizens are involved upstream in public decision-making, the better it will be. We don't have to decide. Elected officials have this democratic legitimacy. It's up to them to be enlightened by what we can say. Citizens are no longer content to slip a ballot into the ballot box every five years.

Bruno Arbouet has been at the head of the Sète Agglopôle Codev since January 2022. Since 2022, he has chaired the Board of Directors of the National Coordination of Development Councils (CNCD).

120 members, 6 working groups

The Sète Agglopôle Development Council (Codev) will meet in plenary assembly this Tuesday, at 6 p.m., at the Théâtre Molière. It includes 120 citizen volunteers, it has a consultative role: it can be contacted by the Agglo upstream of structuring projects or self-contact on issues that it considers important. It is organized into six thematic working groups: governance and citizen participation, businesses and employment, food, culture, ecology and living environment, energy transition. The office includes former Michelin-starred chef Anne Majourel, president of the Thau Festival Monique Teyssier, business leaders Mélody Schaus and Noureddine Smali, lawyer Hélène Bras…

(CNCD).

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