Official inauguration of the "Jardin du train des Pignes": more than just a parking lot with a sea view

Music, a buffet with local suppliers, and dozens of guests (including the mayors of Saint-Tropez and Ramatuelle): the official inauguration of the "Jardin du Train des Pignes" took place on Friday morning under a blazing sun.

All smiles as he cut the tricolor ribbon, Mayor Bernard Jobert first toured the site, which still needs some finishing touches (including the access barriers for the 98 parking spaces on two levels: so for the moment and for around ten days, no payment, then 2 euros per hour without a ticket, with license plate reading and 45 minutes free).

The opportunity for the architect Maryline Chevalier to recall the main points of this flagship project of the mandate: sea view for the two levels, access by staircase from rue Martin, desire to connect significant axes of the city, vegetation, use of wood, spiral steps from the slab to the parking lot with creation of a light well, five landscaped sequences with statues, recalling the history of the rail link. Benches, bleachers, water, pergola and children's games complete the system, with some two-wheeler spaces in front of the entrance to the car park. With the library on the slab in the long term.

"New momentum"

In his humorous speech, the chief magistrate welcomed an " extraordinary " achievement on the scale of the city, naming all the stakeholders, thanking in particular his deputy René Carandante and retracing " this symbol of the new impetus of La Croix-Valmer ": " This project that my team and I presented to the voters in 2020 brings together all the advantages of a place in tune with the world of today and tomorrow. Green spaces, high environmental quality, cool spots, a peaceful site. It is not a parking lot, it is a hanging garden where you can park cars. We wanted to enhance this place which was then an wart on the urban landscape. It represents the first restructuring element of the Cœur de village project, both useful and beautiful. It is a place for pedestrian strolling, opening onto new crossing links, providing access to shops and the village center, with a viewpoint exceptional. There is no doubt that this place will very quickly become an agora where people will love to come and meet ."

Bernard Jobert did not avoid the delay, nor the " complicated financing " which caused controversy, as the opposition (present at the inauguration) underlined in its column in the latest municipal magazine, stating: " In the space of two months, two amendments totaling more than one million euros were signed. We continue to note the worrying escalation of these successive amendments ." From 3 million, the bill has in fact risen to 8. Not enough to shake the mayor: " We can do it and I will not go to prison for it. This financing can be explained: instability after the war in Ukraine, rising cost of materials, unforeseen events (such as the discovery of a tunnel), and the resumption of inflation."

Without state aid but with the support of the community of communes and the Department (which brings the municipal cost down to 6.9 million).

" The final bill is steep, but the municipality had anticipated this and was able to adapt, relying on healthy finances."