The new practice area of ​​the Baillargues golf course built on the basis of an illegal decision by the Montpellier Metropolitan Area ?

Le golf de Massane et son nouveau practice, au fond. Midi Libre – Guillaume Richard

Une modification du plan local d’urbanisme de la commune a été votée par la Métropole. Mais elle est contestée par les services de la préfecture qui ont saisi le tribunal administratif en vue de son annulation.

Was the new practice area at the Massane golf course in Baillargues built on the basis of a contentious administrative decision?? The question arises after a hearing held at the administrative court this Thursday.

The court was seized by the prefecture services, which requested the cancellation of the deliberation taken by the Metropolitan Council on January 25, 2022, which approved a modification of the local urban planning scheme for the commune of Baillargues.

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What general interest?

This regulatory change would then allow the site operator to develop “collective facilities solely related to the practice of golf”. Before the vote, the State services had expressed some reservations, considering that these constructions did not meet a service of general interest, nor a collective need, that the plot concerned by the modification was subject to a risk in terms of flooding. An opinion that the Metropolis had decided to ignore. The deliberation had been voted unanimously by the votes cast.

This Thursday, the public rapporteur of the administrative court nevertheless developed a similar analysis and requested the partial cancellation of the decision concerned. The magistrate questioned in particular the general interest of the developments concerned and therefore exclusively dedicated to the practice of golf as was clearly specified in the text submitted to the elected officials. “Does the function of the facility contribute to a collective need of the population??” he asked before answering in the negative.

A sport like any other

“We have very few benchmarks on what a collective facility is. The meaning is a little broader than that of the public rapporteur” replied Me Romain Geoffret, lawyer for the Métropole, citing in particular the cases of a private leisure park or even a motocross track, validated under the same conditions. “There is a strong desire among the site's investors to welcome schoolchildren. Golf is a sport like any other. The approach of the State services is premature” repeated for his part Me Xavier Hémeury for the commune of Baillargues.

The Massane golf course, in its renovated configuration, opened its doors and its new practice area last September. The decision of the administrative court is expected in about two weeks.

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