In Lège-Cap-Ferret, it is no driving on the beaches of the basin with bikes with wide wheels or fat bikes in English. On the other hand, access is authorized on the ocean beaches, only on wet sand. For the summer period, from mid-June to mid-September, on the other hand, vehicles are only authorized to circulate from sunrise to 11 a.m., as indicated by this municipal decree dated May 18, 2021.
Order that the CEBA, the Environmental Coordination of the Arcachon Basin, challenged in court. The administrative court of Bordeaux must render its decision this Thursday.
By taking this order, the mayor of the town, Philippe De Gonneville, wished “regulate access to beaches to better respect the environment, and avoid conflicts of use between users and bathers in summer“. For its part, the CEBA wishes to totally prohibit the use of those wide-wheeled bikes on the coast. The structure hopes that the court decision will set a precedent. According to its president, Jacques Storelli, “it is not the municipality that can make decisions on this subject. It is the State that decides with regard to the public maritime domain“.
motor vehicles
If the text is challenged by the administrative court, and the fat bikes are recognized as “motor vehicles, then they will be prohibited on the coast“says Jacques Storelli, who relies on the prohibition of motorized land vehicles from circulating and parking on the beach. The mayor of Lège-Cap-Ferret, he is not of this opinion: “sIf the court revokes the municipal ban from 11 a.m. until nightfall, well then, there will be free access to cycling, on the coastal strip, on the foreshore. Which seems to me not to be a good idea both environmentally and in terms of living well together. Between bathers, surfers and electric bikes which often circulate in groups and which, it seems to me, can create conflicts of use with bathers.“