A new generation Contrat de ville signed with the State

The municipality has 25,912 inhabitants, of whom 5.4% live in the Romain Rolland priority neighborhood. Located less than 1 km from the town center, it is a residential area with housing consisting entirely of social housing. The 561 housing units are managed by the Société Gardéenne d’Économie Mixte (SAGEM), the sole social landlord which has just completed a major renovation. The population is relatively young. Indeed, 40% of the population is under 25 years old but comprises low-income households, as 47.8% of the residents live below the national poverty line. On average, under the 2015-2023 Contrat de ville, the State allocated €115,000 annually in exceptional funding, supplementing metropolitan and municipal funds. In 2024, the State maintained its funding for the adult-relay post and co-funded actions under the metropolitan Contrat de ville to the amount of €30,200, supplemented by the €50,000 allocated by TPM and the Ville de La Garde and granted to associations operating in the neighborhood.

FOCUS AREAS OF THE 2024 - 2030 CONTRAT DE VILLE

First of all, the Contrat de ville aims to ensure public peace and security with police officers on the ground. 'This presence contributes to peace of mind and the feeling of security in the neighborhood. Groupes de Partenariat Opérationnels (GPO) are regularly organized by the national police as part of daily security policing, allowing these issues to be addressed,' recalled the préfet du Var. 'In La Garde, general crime fell by nearly 11% over the first 9 months of the year compared to 2023. Over the same period, neighborhood crime fell by more than 23% and thefts by 20%.' Furthermore, the document takes into account the community actions of the police municipale. The State representative added: 'The officers of the police municipale are in regular contact with the population, the social landlord, and tenant associations, which helps to effectively address any issues that may arise. There is also a conseil local de la prévention de la délinquance et de la radicalisation, a platform for exchange among all security stakeholders in the neighborhood, which helps define the main pillars of the local prevention strategy.'

IMPROVING THE LIVING ENVIRONMENT

Secondly, the new Contrat de ville aims to improve the living environment with, for example, summer activities at the foot of buildings. Specifically, the social landlord SAGEM benefits from a reduction in the property tax on built properties (TFPB) of an annual amount of €146,000 to improve the quality of life of the residents. In 2024, the activities funded by this scheme were focused on summer initiatives at the foot of buildings during the annual closure of the municipal services on site. Thus, the Romain Rolland neighborhood will benefit from the town center redevelopment project through the creation of a soft mobility path towards the town center. The goal is to open up the neighborhood to bring it closer to the center and improve integration. The third pillar of the contract: promoting actions in favor of social cohesion and youth, by relying on a dense network of associations. Once again in 2024, 18 associations were funded under the Contrat de ville to develop more than twenty actions in various fields: employment (Face Var, Uniscité), sport (Association Avenir Gymnique Gardéenne, Tennis club de La Garde, Comité du Var de Course d’Orientation), health (Institut d’Étude de la Maladie Chronique), crime prevention (Perles de Sagesse, Théâtre Mandin), culture (Arts o Soleil, Terratata, etc.), youth (UFOLEP 83, les Petits Débrouillards), and their families (ADSEAAV, Association Varoise pour le Respect de l’Enfant, AAVIV, Femmes d’Aujourd’hui). On the ground, the associations are developing partnerships to optimize their actions within the neighborhood and are relying on existing structures such as the Maison des Initiatives Sociales de la Beaussière and the Relais Jeunes.