Fédération du BTP du Var reaches out to newly elected mayors

The evening brought together a large number of elected officials and institutional representatives of Var, starting with the prefect of Var, Simon Babre and Stéphane Rambaud, MP for the 3rd constituency of Var.

An evening planned in five parts

After a statutory meeting reserved for members, the plenary session opened with a welcoming word from Gérard Aubert, deputy for Urban Planning of La Londe-les-Maures, in the absence of François de Canson.

A cross-interview then allowed to decipher the challenges of the beginning of the mandate, between the perspective of Jérémie Fabre, mayor of Solliès-Toucas, and that of François-Xavier Dugourd, consultant and vice-president of the Conseil départemental de Côte d’Or.

The core of the evening was dedicated to the testimonies of three mayors of Var illustrating concrete avenues of cooperation with construction companies.

Marcel Florent, mayor of Les Arcs-sur-Argens, presented the process undertaken by Dracénie Provence Verdon agglomération for construction waste management.

Nicolas Rodriguez, mayor of Cavalaire-sur-Mer, mentioned several leads: involving professionals in the drafting of urban planning documents, consultation before drafting summer decrees on construction works, or raising awareness among local companies about public procurement.

Bernard Mouttet, mayor of Cuers, highlighted the participation of the Fédération in the "Ville Basse Température l'Été" exhibition and the signing by his municipality of the Var charter for facilitating the access of VSEs and SMEs to public procurement.

"A chair around the thinking table"

In his speech, Fabien Piersanti, president of the Fédération du BTP du Var, recalled that the sector accounts for 16% of the economy of Var, which is double the national average, for more than 33,000 direct jobs — and up to 100,000 when integrating related activities, or one in five jobs in the department.

The president of the Fédération noted that dialogue between communities and companies is too often late, the latter being consulted only once decisions have been made. He notably pointed out summer bans on construction works, which sometimes deprive companies of activity for two months, while welcoming the prefectural decree extending working hours during heatwave periods.

Pleading for an approach based on "trust, dialogue and co-construction", Fabien Piersanti proposed the establishment of regular times for exchanges between elected officials, technical services, and company representatives, without questioning the decision-making power of the mayors: "we are not asking for a seat around the decision-making table, we are offering you a chair around the thinking table."

He concluded by presenting this approach as the beginning of a moral "term-of-office contract" between the Fédération and the new municipal executives of Var, based on dialogue and mutual respect.

A well-attended institutional gathering

A dozen mayors of the department were present or represented, including Marcel Florent (Les Arcs-sur-Argens), Franck Bertoncini (Bandol), Cathy Venturino (Barjols), Nicolas Rodriguez (Cavalaire-sur-Mer), Bernard Mouttet (Cuers), Blandine Monier (Évenos), Bertrand Carletti (Le Lavandou), René Ugo (Seillans) or Jérémie Fabre (Solliès-Toucas).

Several municipalities, including La Garde, Gassin, La Londe-les-Maures, Toulon or La Valette-du-Var, were represented by their deputies or delegated councillors. A thought was sent to Dominique Lain, mayor of Le Luc-en-Provence, who suddenly passed away less than a month earlier.

Also present were representatives of the main intermediate bodies and institutions of the territory: the Chambre de métiers and de l'artisanat, the CCI du Var, the DDTM, the DDETS, France Travail, URSSAF, Banque de France, as well as the professional federations of building and public works on a regional scale.