The Maralpine commune of Tourette-du-Château is on track to join the Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolis. Its membership was approved by the Metropolitan Council on September 25.
The village of Tourette-du-Château, a commune with around a hundred inhabitants located in the Estéron Valley, could soon join the Nice Côte d’Azur metropolis. Within its Municipal Council, it expressed the desire to leave the Alps of Azur Community of Communes, which it has been a member of since January 1, 2014, following the dissolution of the Estéron Valley Community of Communes.
Thus, the commune, located an hour’s drive from Nice, wants to join the Nice metropolis, with its 51 communes, its 550,000 inhabitants, and its 1,400 km2.
Bordering Gilette, which joined the metropolis in 2014, it is one of 99 other communes in the ‘Nice attraction area’ defined by INSEE. “Even though the Metropolis is not seeking to expand its perimeter, each request is nevertheless always considered,” notes Christian Estrosi, in his capacity as president.
Integrating a rural commune with agricultural potential and water resources
“The commune has a vast rural and natural space where the forest covers 80% of its territory. It can leverage these within our metropolitan competencies, and this also offers interesting possibilities for our policy of settling new farmers,” suggests the chief magistrate.
“Moreover, the commune belongs to the Estéron watershed, and we all know in this assembly that having good quality water in sufficient quantity is a major issue for our territory, and even beyond,” he adds.
The nice official, a former deputy of the commune, also wishes to clarify that the rural nature of the commune of Tourette-du-Château is not seen as a hindrance to its membership: “There is a lot of talk in this country about the growing divide between urban and rural areas. Our Metropolis has the strength to demonstrate that this is not inevitable, and that one can, within a unified entity, make urban and rural communes coexist which ultimately have linked destinies.”
A deliberation adopted by a wide majority
The Council of Mayors met on September 18 at the initiative of Christian Estrosi to examine Tourette-du-Château’s candidacy. At this meeting, the institution overwhelmingly favored this membership. Four abstentions and two votes against were recorded.
The Metropolitan Council on September 25 provided an opportunity for the assembly of elected officials to vote in turn on this decision. The deliberation was widely adopted. Only five elected officials opposed it and five others abstained.
The Municipal Council of each member commune now has three months to decide on this admission.
