2023-05-26 15:30:17
Ten years following its launch, the Leopold district transformation project has come to a halt once more. In a revised and corrected version, he was at the public inquiry between April 25 and May 24. The opportunity for a hundred citizens and thirty specialized bodies to give their opinion on the project. And, at the end of the process, it was the City of Namur itself that suggested to the developer BESIX to withdraw its request and review its copy.
“We knew that the public inquiry would bring comments, opinions and criticisms”explains Maxime Prévot, the mayor of Namur, who refuses to talk regarding failure. “We can see this survey as a first round to further improve the project, which, let’s remember, will change the face of the City for several decades.” The City claims to have been sensitive to different opinions, whether they relate to architectural, environmental or even heritage issues. However, it was the negative opinion issued by the Trade Observatory that seems to have been decisive. The latter fears that the new complex is not complementary enough with the shops located in the rue de Fer and the rue de l’Ange. Worse: that it deforces the businesses of the city center. A fear aroused by the size planned for the commercial cells of the future complex (under 200 m²), close to what is found in the center, but also by the vagueness which hovers around the type of store expected.
A fear widely shared by the Association of Namur Traders (ACN), which also sent a letter to the City as part of the public inquiry, and therefore welcomes this new turnaround with some relief. “We must redevelop this district, no doubt, but in this case, the commercial fabric would be at risk”, explains Etienne Dethier, the president. “We were afraid of ending up with a tourist hub in the south of the city, around the grumpy, a commercial hub in the north, around the complex, and a no man’s land in between. Other points worried us, such as the fact that the project does not provide direct access between the complex and the city center, the main entrance being at the station square.
The ball is now in BESIX’s court, which says it wants to analyze all the opinions to present a revised project. A new permit application is expected in the coming months.
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