Toulouse: on October 30, the end of the Covid terraces but with exceptions
Extended several times, the authorizations to extend terraces intended to help Toulouse cafeterias and restaurateurs in the face of the Covid crisis end on October 30. But not everywhere: 74 could be made permanent.
Announced since this spring for October 30, the end of the terrace extensions, which had been granted to restaurateurs and cafeteria owners to deal with the Covid crisis, is confirmed. This support measure for this economic sector had been activated in June 2020, after the first confinement, and extended several times until March 31, 2022. On that date, some of the 424 authorizations had not been renewed for the terraces which were revealed on delivery sites, motorcycle parking lots for example or which had been the subject of nuisance signs by local residents.
Others have been able to continue because the representatives of the professionals have stepped up to the plate to assert new difficulties: repayment of the Loan guaranteed by the State, hiring of personnel for the summer proportionate to the size of the terrace, turnover at half mast… The warning signal was heard and, after examination for those who met the requested criteria, the new extension was granted “until October 30”, then specified Christophe Alvès, the elected official in charge of this file. .
Lights always red
“The principle was derogatory. It was an emergency measure, ”observes Olivier Bouscatel, president of the GNI de la Haute-Garonne, one of the unions in the profession, who therefore admits the end of the Covid terraces. “It was an impetus for our sector to start again properly”, recalls for his part Olivier Dupuy, the representative of cafetiers and restaurateurs within the Union of trades and industries of the hotel industry (UMIH). The two professionals agree, however, that the profession continues to suffer. “After the health crisis, we are experiencing a real economic crisis. The lights are no longer green, ”underlines Olivier Bouscatel, who points to the reimbursement of PGEs and the soaring cost of raw materials.
According to the count of the town hall, 69 Covid terraces will therefore close at the end of October. But others will continue. Indeed, since the spring, some have been made permanent. These are, according to the town hall like the representatives of the profession, those “which did not pose a problem and of which the traders were applicants”. Still according to the figures communicated yesterday by the Capitol, fourteen terraces have already been made permanent in April. And sixty others are the subject of “ongoing” studies to see if they can last, of which 42 are placed in the saved storage. In total, 74 Covid terraces are therefore likely to exist beyond October 30. Either, calculates the town hall, 17.4% of the initial authorizations.
It is not sure that these terraces, supposed to be problem-free, are to everyone’s taste. Residents and associations of the disabled have regularly stated the nuisances they felt. The BVTC association, with its 1,040 members, is already annoyed at not having been able to know yet which terraces will remain after October 30. “We will make our own observations on the ground”, slips Patrick Affre. “We are not against bars and restaurants. We also take advantage of the terraces. But we want a balance”, recalls this representative of BVTC who rails against terraces “with doubled capacity” which cause “twice as much noise pollution”, in particular at 2 am or 3 am, closing times of bars in the week and the weekend.
The fourteen terraces made permanent on September 6
According to the town hall of Toulouse, requested yesterday, four terraces of cafes and restaurants have been made permanent since April and sixty others are being analyzed. The list of fourteen terraces, as of September 6, is as follows: Le Matin bar, place des Carmes; the Beer Mosaic, rue Riquet; the Ginette café, avenue des Minimes; Haozaï, rue Denfert-Rochereau; Le Bibent, Place du Capitole; Les Frelotins, rue Riguepels; Le Mercure, Compans-Caffarelli esplanade; Pitaya, rue Lafayette; On the sunny side, Place des Carmes; The Black Lion, Paul-Feuga alleys; The Botanist, boulevard du Maréchal-Leclerc; Little London, rue Riquet; V and B, Compans-Caffarelli esplanade; and the Zen Sai, rue Jean-Suau. This list should therefore be completed soon. Authorized for economic reasons in the spring, 69 terrace extensions will be removed by October 30.