Elected mayor in 2014, Sébastien Ombras assures us: “Vézénobres has all the assets to function well …”
How do you see the health crisis?
She fell on us like a hammer blow. We did not know what confinement was, which happened two days after the 2020 municipal elections.
Fortunately, there had only been one turn and we immediately took things head on: organizing communal life, with shops, services, health professionals and household helpers who have played the game. Everyone has adapted.
And how did your constituents behave?
Very well. There was no problem. The sanitary measures were respected. Clearly, we have seen the emergence of more solidarity. And the social bond has been strengthened. And it stayed.
Yes, there were already neighborhood relationships, but that solidified those relationships. For me, this proves that when there is a hard blow, solidarity works.
But did this period constitute a brake on the ambitions of the municipality?
The Covid has hardly delayed anything in our programs, with the exception of our festive events, which have been modified or canceled. We continued to move forward.
For example, this period allowed us to make progress on the design of the fairground, on requests for subsidies or calls for tenders. We were not in the construction launch phase …
The Maison de la figue and the conservatory orchard are a success. I am very happy with it. Not everyone believed it …
Precisely, what were your last major achievements?
The last is the roundabout necessary to secure the Mas D’Adger area, where the Bastide headquarters are being built. It was finished in November, and the company is due to arrive in January.
For the rest, we only made odds and ends. But, as a reminder, the extension of the nursery school was undertaken five years ago. And then, we have, still in progress, the burying of the EDF, Telecoms and public lighting networks …
What is striking are also the Maison de la figue and the conservatory orchard …
And I am very happy with it, because it is a success. Not everyone believed it… Clearly, today, Vézénobres is known for its medieval village and for being the capital of figs. All this brings us visitors …
In this regard, has the tourist season suffered from the health crisis?
In 2020, we experienced very strong growth in tourist traffic. During this crisis, we saw a French population in search of heritage. Here, during the summer season, the restaurants fill up every evening. And we also experienced that in 2021!
In short, the strong tourism growth that we recorded in past years has not been impacted by the Covid. Which is reassuring, in Vézénobres, for everyone. Touristically speaking, and this is what is interesting, we are positioned on the Uzès-Anduze axis.
Where are you at with your request for classification among the “Most beautiful villages in France”?
There, for once, the Covid cut us off in our tracks. The file is ready; it remains to send it. But we must not miss it; you have to start it at the right time.
I want to make the request after the launch of the landscaped garden project at the oppidum, to sanctify this place which is already protected. This label is important, but we do not join, like others, in a race for labels …
The development of Vézénobres, for the next twenty years, is determined by the 2016 local urban plan.
Vézénobres is also the scene of several economic projects …
We are lucky to have the RN 106 with two double lanes. Our economic axis is, clearly, Alès-Nîmes. And we were able to clear land without distorting the visibility cones. Thus, we were able to set up businesses in the Basin that needed buildings.
This is the case of Capelle, Bastide, Cellier-Boisset, Delafon, CMag. And, as we hope for soon, S Group, which is due to set up in Mount Cavala, their idea being to regroup most of their activity there. Regarding this company, servicing work is currently being carried out by Alès Agglo. I hope she can apply for her building permit in 2022.
Finally, we have a future activity zone which should see the light of day in the next five or ten years: the Saint-Jean zone. You know, in Vézénobres, where there are 1,900 inhabitants, we must have 700 people who come to work in the village every day. It’s enormous !
Population: “A steady increase”
Already carried by two lanes of the RN 106, is the demography of the town continuing to rise?
“The demography was already changing before the transformation of the national road. That said, since 1998, the population has increased steadily. In a healthy way, because it is done gradually. Moreover, for 2030, we are counting on a number of inhabitants around 2,200.
The new arrivals come to Vézénobres because we are on the axes to go to their places of work, whether it is near Nîmes, Alès or elsewhere. I remind you that the village is at the center of a territory.
But we also see other categories of people, such as retirees, because we respond to their requests, in terms of service offers, the presence of doctors, businesses “.
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Where are your urban planning and real estate projects?
Clearly, the development of Vézénobres, for the next twenty years, is determined by the local urban plan (PLU) of 2016, with agricultural and natural areas to be protected, social housing, individual housing, zones of economic activity. There, it is implemented.
That said, we have, as a project, 28 social housing units, which will be managed by “Un toit pour tous”; work has started recently. Next year, we are going to widen the Chemin de Bercaude, to facilitate traffic.
Tell us about the fairground …
Its layout is our most important project. We were also elected on this! The center of Vézénobres, for a long time, is no longer the medieval village, the town hall square. Our idea is to create a new place of intergenerational living.
However, the municipality is fortunate to have two hectares available in the heart of our territory. The project was presented at a public meeting on November 25. Near the school group, there will be an educational orchard open to all, a large play area for children of all ages, the establishment of the future House of associations and youth, a gentle path that will lead to the other part of the fairground, a 1,000 m2 esplanade, a skatepark, the new location for buses.
However, the grassy fairground remains sacred. The work will begin during the summer and should last a year.
How does your municipality manage to exist in such a large urban community (72 municipalities)? Is it easy?
Could Alès Agglo exist without Vézénobres and its land? (laughs) What do you want me to tell you? The truth ? Well, the truth is that it is going very well …
“To keep health and hope”
On this New Year’s Eve, what do you wish your constituents for 2022?
(Smile) “Already, if we no longer spoke of the Covid-19 pandemic, that would be good … Otherwise, I hope that the municipal facilities that we are going to imagine will correspond to their needs and that they will know how to use them. Of course, I do not ignore a traditional presentation of the vows, to all of you, I wish to keep my health and hope.
Are you planning to hold a vows ceremony?
No, there will not be in 2022. This, because of the persistence of the health crisis. Likewise, there will be no elder meals. However, as a compensation, the municipality will distribute meals to seniors in Vézénobres, early next year.
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