To Cambo les Bains
after three days of mobilization and demonstration
from last Saturday, this Monday, Christian Devèze the mayor of the town, explained on France Bleu Pays basque not being able to withdraw the project. “The problem of withdrawal does not belong to me, because it is not a municipal project, but a joint ownership where an operator has obtained a building permit” explained Christian Devèze.
“There are appeals before the administrative court of appeal of Bordeaux. We must therefore wait for the results of these appeals” said the mayor of Cambo. “We do not have the possibility of managing the destination of these lands. There is a Local Urbanism Plan voted by Cambo and by the Basque Country urban community
which takes into account the provisions of the SRU law and especially of the Local Habitat Plan”. The Local Housing Plan which provides for the construction of 16,000 housing units in the Basque Country by 2026, and voted in the Basque Country agglomeration council
in April 2021. For the mayor, Cambo-les-Bains is not above ground or isolated. The municipality is part of this community dynamic in which town centers must produce housing.
“There are 150 housing requests on my desk” says Christian Devèze, mayor of Cambo-les-Bains
According to Christian Devèze, Cambo does not only have an agricultural vocation. For him, we must defend the primary sector, but this must be able to be combined with the construction of new housing, the predominant activity of health and the development of tourism.
The mayor recalls that Cambodia
agriculture is less significant than in the surrounding villages. He is also surprised by the “crystallization” concerning the Azantza-Borda III project while the construction of the first two sections had not given rise to a demonstration.“We cannot concentrate on a single project, because the problem is major. Residents of Cambo and people who work in the town are struggling to find housing. I have more than 150 housing requests on my desk” .
Protesters over the weekend were suggesting further rehabilitation of the city center, rather than building on farmland. The mayor argues against it:“In the town center, we have very little land to build on. We are leading an analysis with EPFL
to densify the village where, moreover, we only have 22 vacant dwellings. We will work to renovate them.”