Published November 11, 2022, 1:40 pm
Is it a good deal or a bad deal? This is the question that has been driving the Raincy City Council since October 10th. The municipality of Seine-Saint-Denis has in fact canceled the memorandum of understanding with the Grand Paris Nord-Est territorial hospital group (GHT). This involved the sale of the former Valère-Lefebvre hospital, at the same time as the purchase by the municipality of another land, called “L’Ermitage”, belonging to the GHT.
By keeping its hospital lot, i.e. 8,500m2 out of the 13,000m2 of the site, the municipality led by Jean-Michel Genestier (SE), hopes to be able to install an Ehpad on it. The three opposition groups in the city don’t think so. They started a petition to force the majority to keep the original agreement. According to them, if the GHT keeps the L’Ermitage land, it could eventually be sold to developers.
The fear of resale to promoters
“There is no certainty that an Ehpad will be able to establish himself here, as there are hardly any job openings in our department. On the other hand, with the dramatic financial situation of the hospital in France, the worst is to be feared. The promoters could build yet another building there ”, fears Nicolas Rondepierre, elected by the Tous Pour le Raincy (LR) list, in a video on social networks.
“In reality, the GHT or any future owners will not be able to do what they want with L’Ermitage,” replies Jean-Michel Genestier. Our PLU prohibits any new construction in the area! Only a rehabilitation of the existing building is possible. I myself am against intensive promotion in the city, ”he says.
As proof, the elected member recalls that in 2013 he abstained from voting for the agreement concluded by Eric Raoult, then mayor of the city, with the GHT. “I always thought that Le Raincy had been defrauded by buying land valued at 2.6 million euros less than the one sold”, underlines the city councilor. In addition to its larger size, the Valère-Lefebvre land has the advantage of being flat, unlike L’Ermitage, and of being close to the T4 tram station.
Conditions of the legacy
Problem: if the site has more advantages, the municipality is bound by the conditions of the bequest of the painter Louis-Valère Lefebvre, who died in 1902. The artist donated this 8,500 square meter plot of land to the municipality, on condition that he found a place there to welcome “the poor and the sick”. The creation of a nursing home would therefore fulfill these conditions. Except for the opposition, in the event of a negative decision by the ARS, the site will become unusable. On the other hand, the development of the Hermitage requires, in their view, only a simple modification of the PLU.
Jean-Michel Genestier sweeps these fears out of control. He already claims to be conducting “advanced discussions” with an operator, ready to move an old departmental establishment and install it on the land of Valère-Lefebvre. An operation which therefore would not require the opening of new places by the Ars.
The project should be unveiled in the coming months. Furthermore, according to him, the GHT is preparing a project respecting the PLU on L’Ermitage.
