the project to build an Arena is wreaking havoc in a town in Haute-Savoie

In La-Roche-sur-Foron (Haute-Savoie) there is a station which serves the region and its wonders – Lake Annecy, the Aravis range and the foothills of Mont-Blanc further afield –, a small centre- town with its shops, cafes, restaurants, its cinema, an old medieval town and, as elsewhere, its lack of doctors. Located 30 kilometers from Annecy and a little less distance from Geneva, in Switzerland, the Savoyard town is a small town of 11,000 inhabitants like the others. With one exception: a huge cultural and sports complex of 18,000 square meters, financed by the department, must be built there by 2027 on the parking lot of the Parc des expositions, in an industrial zone on the outskirts.

The department of Haute-Savoie, where the Tour de France 2023 will spend five days, between Saturday July 15 and Wednesday July 19 – he will cross La-Roche-sur-Foron on Sunday -, will organize the World Cycling Championships in four years (road, mountain bike, BMX, track) and wants to take the opportunity to bring this complex, which will include a velodrome, to the ground – with its 250-meter wooden ring for track competition – a 10,000-seat performance hall, offices, a climbing wall, running corridors and even a sports hall.

“A complex that we should have had for twenty years”

Great for some, senseless for others, the project divides, questions and upsets Rochois. “It’s 50-50”, summarizes a shopkeeper from the city center, who is waiting like everyone else for the result of the tender commission, scheduled for July 28, so that the department details its project in concrete terms and answers the many questions about the budget, the environmental impact and accessibility of such equipment.

“All questions are legitimate, but I do not have the right to express myself for the moment”, responds to franceinfo Martial Saddier. The president Les Républicains (LR) of the department, at the origin of the project, promises to clarify all the gray areas by the start of the school year. “We are taking advantage of these Worlds to create a large complex that we should have had for twenty years in the department”, defends the chosen one, who wants to create a legacy and “to create in Haute-Savoie a real cycling sector”.

Critics on the budget, already increased from 64 to 74 million euros? “We may be a little more expensive than expected, but never at 150 million euros as some say”, assures Martial Saddier. The fear of an artificialization of the soil to build car parks? “We are working on a new car park offer, to develop soft modes of transport, but we will not touch agricultural land”, he guarantees. The project considered disproportionate for a city of 11,000 inhabitants? “People speak without knowing. There are some who are against everything. Let them assume to be eco-friendly, selfish and consider that nothing more should be done in Haute-Savoie”, he sweeps again.

“Lying” budget and “useless” project

The collective “No at the Vélodrome Arena”, which claims “apolitical”assumes its opposition to a project “useless”, denounce a budget “to lie” and talk about a “ecological nonsense”. “It’s great delirium”plague Martine Le Mercier, the president of this collective made up of citizens, an elected representative of the Rochoise opposition, environmental associations and civil disobedience movements, met in the streets of La-Roche-sur-Foron.

The opponents, who propose to move the track events of the 2027 Worlds to the Vélodrome of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, where the 2024 Olympics events will take place, speak “squandered money” and fear that the “Haute-Savoie Arena” will never be profitable. “If we are lucky enough to have money, let’s invest it in education, housing, bike paths”, insists Martine Le Mercier. The department opposes that it also invests elsewhere – as explained The liberated Dauphiné, an envelope of 56 million euros was announced at the end of June for cycle paths in Haute-Savoie.

France Nature Environnement (FNE) is concerned, for its part, about “environmental impact” of the project. The association urges the State to carry out an evaluation. “We’re talking about a 4,000-space car park, developing transport, but that’s not realistic, it’s going to be total congestion,” denounces the president of the FNE 74. “We are at the forefront of climate change and, instead of financing green mobility, we build equipment that will be used for two weeks and after that, we don’t really know what will happen”argues Anne Lassman-Trappier, for whom decision-makers “have not passed the milestone of the 21st century”.

“An anachronistic infrastructure”

A position shared by the LR deputy for Haute-Savoie, Virginie Duby-Muller, beaten in 2021 by Martial Saddier for the presidency of the department. “Ten or fifteen years ago, it would have passed but now, it makes no sense. We were told about a velodrome, now an Arena, but it is an anachronistic infrastructure and the department has other priorities”, considers the departmental councilor, in favor despite everything of hosting the World Cycling Championships. According to her, the future complex will not be profitable.

“It will be complicated to be in balance, there is already a theater in Annecy, Chambéry, and then it is not Rihanna who will come to La-Roche-sur-Foron.”

Virginie Duby-Muller, LR deputy for Haute-Savoie

at franceinfo

The mayor of the city, Pierrick Ducimetière (DVD), hears the criticisms and admits to sharing them sometimes. “But it’s not the La Roche Arena, it’s the Haute-Savoie Arena”, answers the 29-year-old city councilor, elected in 2022 after the resignation of the mayor. His first contacts with Martial Saddier date back to the summer of 2022, a few weeks after his election. “I found the project interesting for the influence of the city, for its economic aspect and for employment, remembers Pierrick Ducimetière. The project was not included in our electoral project but we saw it as a bonus.”

For the mayor, a “historic opportunity”

The mayor assures that he has made guarantees – “that he costs zero euros to Rochois, that it is on an already artificialized place and that we find a solution for parking” – but sees a “historic opportunity”. “If we don’t have guarantees around the Arena, it’s obvious that we won’t take the risk of building the building”, he warns, noting that hotel groups have already come to the information.

As for traders, some believe that the project will bring people back and energize the city center, while others wonder. “Maybe it’s good for restaurants, but when there are big fairs at the Parc des Expositions, nobody comes to town, so good”, points out Pascale, who runs a ready-to-wear boutique. Further on, in front of one of the panels “No to the Vélodrome Arena, yes to millions for education” clinging to balconies, Jérôme, an educator in his forties who lives in the city, laughs at the mention of the project. “We are told about sobriety and next to it, we build this vague thing. In fact, I have the impression of being in SimCity [un jeu vidéo dont le but est de construire des villes].“

While waiting for the department to unveil the project in detail, the collective “Non au Vélodrome Arena”, whose online petition had collected just over 21,000 signatures on Thursday July 13, wishes to file a request for local consultation at the community level. of communes in the Pays Rochois. It also calls for a referendum in La-Roche-sur-Foron and its president admits: “The legal battles will start with the building permits, but the goal is that the project does not see the light of day.”

The mayor, who refused to hold a referendum on the grounds that the project is carried by the department, anticipate a busy summer, even if he says to himself “quite confident”. “The goal is for this project to happen, but optimism must not turn into naivetyadmits Pierrick Ducimetière. VSIt’s a difficult project and the timing is tight.” The construction of the “Haute-Savoie Arena” therefore promises to animate the small town of La-Roche-sur-Foron for some time to come.