the installation of “anti-homeless” concrete blocks arouses the ire of an elected municipal official
Anti-homeless concrete blocks cause a lot of tension. At the head of this outburst of indignation: François Piquemal, AMC member, opposition group in Toulouse and Toulouse Métropole, but also a former member of the association Right to housing. Installed three weeks ago in front of the premises of 115, at 66 bis avenue Étienne Billières in Toulouse, the blocks mainly aim to prevent the homeless from being able to occupy the premises.
The elected representative quickly reacted to this new development on his Twitter account:
“At the height of ridicule and cynicism”
Contacted by The Independent Opinion, François Piquemal specifies that he had been alerted by residents to this installation: “they were outraged by this device, in particular by the inconvenience it causes for pedestrians, in particular people in wheelchairs or parents with strollers.”
The gray concrete blocks were already there, more than a year ago, still in the but to prevent the homeless from settling in front of the 115. The latter managed to sleep between the blocks. The town hall then decided to add the green blocks to be sure that they could not settle there. No housing problem is solved. We are at the height of ridicule and cynicism “, indignant François Piquemal.
It has been several years since the DAL 31 denounces these practices, many members are regularly indignant about this device, moreover the city of Toulouse has often been pinned by the Abbé-Pierre Foundation for these anti-homeless arrangements. However, the elected member of the AMC group did not expect such a reaction on social networks: “it had never taken such proportions, it surprises me enough”, he admits.
The town hall invokes the “security of public space”
The community wants to “improve the security of public space and guarantee access to the premises of the SIAO (Integrated Reception and Orientation Service)”. Jean-Paul Bouche, mayor of the neighborhood, tells the newspaper The Midday Dispatch that “concrete blocks were put in place about three years ago, at the request of the State, after the evacuation of extra-community families installed in front of the SIAO. The people had been oriented towards different types of care depending on their situation.
He adds: “Four concrete blocks have been added to improve the security of the public space and guarantee access to the SIAO premises for all. Residents and neighborhood associations told me about their satisfaction since the implementation of this measure», Assured the mayor of the district.
A declaration of questioning by the elected representative of the opposition in Toulouse Métropole, who specifies having been alerted to the device by these same residents.
Time for action
“Such devices make no sense because it does not solve anything. We add cruelty to the condition of the most deprived” is indignant François Piquemal. Thus, the former volunteer of the DAL did not fail to mention, on his social networks, solutions that the town hall could consider such as “regulating rents, building social housing for the most precarious, requisitioning the 24,000 housing units and 220,000 square meters of vacant office space. “
The elected official specifies that the opposition began discussions, almost a year ago, with the metropolis on the subject of the requisition of public housing and large financial companies. “To date, we have had no news,” laments the co-chairman of the AMC group before continuing: “On the regulation of rents, we have had a refusal on the part of Mr. Moudenc and his vice-president for housing, Karine Traval-Michelet on criteria, essentially, political and dogmatic. “
Finally, François Piquemal also points the finger lack of construction of social housing : “The metropolis does not build social housing adapted to the resources of applicants. As rents in the private sector are not regulated, there are more and more people who find themselves precarious in relation to the. The consequence is clear: they find themselves homeless.