Menton’s seafront promenade is to have a €6 million makeover, but not all support the project, which has required the mandatory closure of its beaches since the end of August. Now the courts have had their say.
Four owners of Menton private beach establishments came together under the banner of the Etablissements Balnéaires et des Usagers de la Riviera Française association to ask the Nice Administrative Court to postpone the closure of their beaches until mid-November.
They argue that the obligatory closure at the end of August, as reported last month by Monaco Life, will cause significant loss of income by cutting short their potential earning period for the summer and autumn.
On Thursday 7th September, the court rebuked their request, following an earlier hearing on Monday 4th September, putting the nail in the coffin for the hope of reprieve and perhaps even the future presence of the premises concerned.
NEW PROBLEMS
This hearing opened another can of worms, as it also determined that the establishments refusing to finance their part of the project, which is believed to be in the region of several hundreds of thousands of euros, could risk losing their spot on the beaches of Menton.
In order for their concessions to be renewed, the beach operators of Menton must follow certain regulations, including paying the sums of money requested to pay for the infrastructure and new equipment of the project.
A press release put out on Thursday 7th September by the mayor of Menton, Yves Juhel, stated that he was “delighted” by the ruling, “which confirms that the public service delegation procedure for the operation of Plage Sablettes was respected in all respects, as argued by the lawyer for the City of Menton”.
The renovations to the seafront will begin on Monday 18th September.
Read more about the situation here:
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Photo source: Canmandawe, Unsplash