Illegal occupations by travelers have increased in recent months in the metropolis of Montpellier. Latest example, in Saint-Jean-de-Védas, in the La Lauze area. A collective of entrepreneurs and traders was created. He denounces damage, theft, threats and even attempted racketeering.
The private and open car parks of the Montpellier metropolis have become in recent years the preferred locations for travelers. Far in front of the reception areas and sports fields. Illegal occupations which generate conflicts, damage and numerous nuisances.
Many hypermarkets regularly targeted by illegal occupations of caravans have also reacted by installing templates or removable arches at the entrance to their car park to control the flow of entries. The same goes for certain park and ride facilities located at the gates of the metropolis near the tramway.
What remains are businesses and individuals who are also impacted and helpless in the face of this phenomenon.
Since December, the industrial zone “La lauze”, in Saint-Jean-de-Védas, along the A9, southwest of Montpellier, seems very popular with travelers.
Several sites have been victims of occupation. 30 to 40 caravans each time which set up for two to three weeks and at best block the parking spaces reserved for employees and customers of companies who then no longer know where to park, at worst degrade the places or even attack users. .
It becomes unbearable. The presence of travelers scares away customers, not to mention the damage. Our employees are afraid of being extorted, the offices have been forced, there are thefts and insecurity… This cannot last.
Jean-Baptiste Navarro, owner of premises in the ZI La Lauze.
Faced with the inertia and impossibility of acting quickly and effectively on the part of municipalities, the metropolis and the prefecture, entrepreneurs and traders have just created a collective.
“We are going to write to the prefect to ask him for help. Because when some finally leave our parking lot, others arrive and settle down. And the same ones return a few days later. They are sedentary in movement in fact. If that does not is not enough, we will consider other modes of action” continues Jean-Baptiste Navarro.
A consultation meeting took place on Monday with the mayor of the town, a representative of the gendarmerie and around twenty entrepreneurs and traders. Conclusion, “there is not much to do or a solution in sight” laments one participant.
New, some companies denounce blackmail by “parking occupants”. They would ask for a financial contribution for their departure. A shame!
Without a solution from the public authorities, we are in an impasse. We just have to pay. Because some people engage in blackmail and racketeering. They ask for 3,000 to 5,000 euros to leave. A colleague gave them 300 euros, they left the place then returned two days later.
An entrepreneur remaining anonymous for fear of reprisals.
The case of these shops and businesses in Saint-Jean-de-Védas is not unique in Hérault. Other illegal occupations have been reported in particular in Cournonterral or Castries despite the development of reception and high-traffic areas, around 900 places between Bionne, Castries, Cournonterral and Castelnau-le-Lez, and a budget of 23 million euros financed by the metropolis of Montpellier.
2024-01-23 16:41:30
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