• In Cabriès, in the Bouches-du-Rhône, the municipal swimming pool will not open this summer.

    The mayor of the town, Amapola Ventron, fears not being able to cope with the current rise in the price of electricity.

  • A decision that allows the elected to preserve organic in canteens or discovery classes.

    She also refuses to raise taxes, and asks for help from the state.

The consequences of the energy crisis are indeed concrete.

In Cabriès, a small town located between Marseille and Aix-en-Provence, the municipal swimming pool which opens every summer will remain very empty this season.

And for good reason: due to soaring energy prices, the town hall has decided not to open its municipal basin.

The mayor of Cabriès Amapola Ventron returns for

20 Minutes

to this decision.

Why did you decide not to open the outdoor swimming pool in your municipality?

I made this decision three or four weeks ago.

The reason is mathematical and very factual.

I had planned for an increase in the price of electricity in my budget, but not so dramatically.

For example, the bill for a building that includes gymnasiums, among other things, amounted to 13,000 euros in January 2021. There, it came to me at 41,000 euros!

So there, I have a big problem.

The increase in my bills fluctuates between 256 and 300%!

In 2021, the swimming pool cost 100,000 euros.

I don't know how much it would have been if I hadn't decided on this exceptional closure.

The electricity part represents 1/3 of this expense, with the pumps and the light in the changing rooms.

We must therefore add 300% to this expense, because the problem is that it is a municipal swimming pool, not a metropolitan one.

And me,

Does this mean that a swimming pool is a secondary expense?

Of course not.

As a mom, I can tell you that making this decision was heartbreaking.

Afterwards, if we had been in the center of France, I might have made another decision.

But we are in the country of Aix where there are many swimming pools, whether in Bouc-Bel-Air or Luynes.

We are still very well off.

And we're not that far from the sea either. We're not in an isolated territory.

The government has promised to limit price increases for individuals, but not for local authorities.

Is the solution there in your opinion?

Indeed, we do not have an energy shield and I think that this measure would allow us to have visibility and to plan.

That's the problem today.

The main problem is that we are in uncertainty.

Will it continue to increase?

I don't know, but I'm not allowed to raise taxes.

This would sacrifice the purchasing power of the inhabitants of Cabriès.

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  • electricity

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