By David Gold
April 26 – An escalating row between Lyon Mayor Gérard Collomb (pictured) and France’s Sports Minister Chantal Jouanno is threatening to derail plans for Olympique Lyonnais’ proposed new stadium, the Stade des Lumiéres, which is a probable venue for the 2016 European Championships.
France 24 reports that the project is on the brink of collapse as Collomb refuses to allow a series of public hearings to take place, which must be held prior to the start of construction work on the new stadium.
Hearings were meant to be taking place from April 20, but the delay means they may not be heard by the end of June, which is an essential prerequisite for enabling the construction to begin by the end of the year.
Jean-Michel Aulas, the President of Olympique Lyonnais, hopes that the new ground will be ready by 2013, but that prospect is looking increasingly unlikely, and has called for a rapid solution to the “political” impasse.
Collomb’s reluctance to permit the public hearings to take place on schedule is because the Government has not signed a Declaration of Public Interest (DIG), which has been sitting in the office of French Prime Minister François Fillon for eight months.
Collomb last week accused Fillon of stonewalling.
“If Fillon persists in refusing to issue a declaration of general interest, it’s clear that they will be a problem,” he said.
“Everyone knows that this declaration is necessary legally so that the stadium can be built.”
Jouanno, the Sports Minister, sent a public letter to Collomb on Friday, in which she said: “The Government intends to stand by its commitment towards the realisation of a great stadium in Lyon.
“In these circumstances I can only repeat my warning about the consequences of a decision to postpone the public hearings.
“The only result is that this would jeopardise the flagship project for French sport.”
Jouanno also added that “the Declaration of General Interest should be made at the start of a project, to appreciate precisely the characteristics of the project.”
Collomb retorted by saying that “all this was done a year ago.”
“It was in December 2009 that Lyon demanded the Declaration of General Interest, in February 2010 the complete folder was declared, and in April to May 2010 the 11 communes concerned were consulted and eight gave a favourable opinion.
“Today we only demand one thing of the Government, that all the stadiums for Euro 2016 are given Declarations of General Interest.”
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