• The residents of the Plain collective complains of significant noise and night nuisance.

  • This recently renovated square was previously a parking lot.

  • Appeasing it and making it livable for all is a stake for the municipality while the metropolis, which had financed a large part of the work, is raising the tone.

One side tails, one side tails.

In Marseille, Place Jean-Jaurès, better known as “la Plaine”, changes its face after dark.

On the opposite side, play areas are widely used by children and families during the day.

Just like this Wednesday.

“The playground is really good, the children are having fun,” observes Naïma, who has come with her two children.

“But we can't keep this place clean,” says the young mother.

Her friend Mathilde finds that "the games [are] respected, they are not degraded".

Anne-Sophie, she particularly fears “bottles of alcohol, and broken glass”.

"The rain and the mistral have become our best friends"

On the front side, as the Marseille night progresses, the atmosphere changes quite radically, and, for residents, not for the better. "Living here is more and more difficult", regrets Nicolas. "Noise pollution is at unacceptable levels," explains the father of the family. Her children's room overlooks the square. “And it's not about little guitars, but amplified sound, fanfare. This summer it was Monday to Sunday. The rain and the mistral have become our best friends, ”blows the man who is one of the leaders of the Riverains de la Plaine, an informal group of around thirty residents. A state of affairs which goes hand in hand with an upsurge in aggression and violence.

A problem amplified since the renovation of the square, partially delivered in the spring.

Many tags immediately appeared on street furniture.

“They are not the most beautiful in Marseille,” notes Anne-Sophie.

“Before, it was a car park, there was the Plaine district, but not“ the Place de la Plaine ”,” continues Nicolas.

“So there is everything to invent.

A cohabitation to set up with everyone, including party animals who are part of the life of the neighborhood.

We have to live together.

Having everyone get together is good, but that doesn't mean everyone does anything.

"

The metropolis returns the blows received during the garbage collectors' strike

A situation that the metropolis denounces. "Wild parties, tags, urban rodeos, degradation", the metropolis is worried about the future of this place and the security conditions, while it has financed the work to the tune of 18 million euros. "The metropolis asks the city of Marseille to act to put an end to the damage," she wrote in a press release. "What is the city of Marseille doing, it shines by its absence!" By its inertia ", adds Jean-Baptiste Rivoallan, the president of the group" a desire for the Metropolis ", the majority group. It is also a way for the metropolis to return the blows it received from the municipal executive during the episode of the garbage collectors' strike in September.

“It's not a simple problem.

It is the second largest square in Marseille, ”recalls Didier Jau, the mayor of the area.

The first measures, clearly insufficient, had already been announced last June.

“We are working in coordination with the central town hall to increase the number of operations.

We have also set up a team of mediators and we hope to organize a meeting with the residents very soon.

But we also need a finite place for it to be securable.

The retractable pillars are still missing, which will also bring the market back.

"

With winter fast approaching, the place should experience less hectic nights in the weeks to come.

The time to work on solutions, "not to relive last summer in 2022, things must move," says Nicolas.

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  • Noise

  • Marseilles

  • Security