This is unfortunately not an April Fool's joke: after the threats hovering over the Albi circuit, convicted of noise offenses linked to the public health code, it is now the Mérignac circuit, in Gironde, which has seen its future darken in a few months. Indeed, the mayor of Mérignac wishes to proceed as quickly as possible with the expulsion of the operator of the automobile circuit, whom he describes as a "squatter", in order to recover the land to install aeronautical activity and a training area. Travellers.
Threats to close circuits are more and more frequent and are often linked to complaints from local residents whose homes were built well after and too close to the circuits. However, in Mérignac, the Town Hall had saved this circuit in 2004. But that was before having problems with the manager at the time and his haphazard administration. Since then, the site has been taken over by the company GTRS but the liabilities were already well established.
For many years, the town hall of Mérignac has wanted to recover the land where the circuit is located. Even if she owns the place, its operation falls to Piste.Sr and ProConsult. In 2019, these companies underwent judicial liquidation and had to leave. However, at the same period, the GTRS company took over the operation. The new company takes the time to do work on the circuit and refurbish the various safety protocols. The objective is to stay within the rules. At the same time, rent for the operation of the place is paid every month.
This situation is not to the taste of the town hall which reminded the manager that the GTRS company is occupying the place illegally and intends to enforce “as quickly as possible” a court decision of June 17, 2021, “which condemned the occupants of the circuit to 200.000 euros in damages, and 14.000 euros as occupation compensation, for occupation without right or title”. A conviction which according to him closes a subject which has dragged on for years.
Even if the renovation work, the upgrading of security protocols and the payment of rent were viewed rather favorably, it was not enough to convince them. Also, an operation to expel users of the Mérignac car-motorcycle circuit took place on March 22.
From now on, the Mérignac car-motorcycle circuit will allow the municipality to recover 15 hectares of land located along the airport runway. The site would be intended to host “aeronautical activities”, and four hectares would be developed for travelers. This is why, if operating authorizations could have been granted in the past for this structure which was created at the initiative of the city in 1991, “there has never been a commercial lease established for this circuit”, said the mayor, the community has long wanted to set up other activities there.
If he pleads good faith and defends himself "to be a bandit", Nicolas Badard acknowledges, however, that he does not have a lease for the operation of the site. “But I pay rent,” He says. “A rent that he himself defined, we don’t know how since he occupies the site without rights or title,” sweeps away Alain Anziani, the mayor of Mérignac, who describes him as a “squatter”.
The current situation results from several years of haphazard management of the circuit, by successive companies. Because in reality, it was not GTRS which was condemned in 2021 by the courts, but Piste SR and ProConsult, two entities which have since been liquidated. “I bought the shares from the owner of ProConsult in 2020”, explains Nicolas Badard, manager of GTRS, and “I took over management of the circuit by investing a lot of money to clean it up, because it had become a real dump. »
“I have no distrust of motor sports,” assures the mayor of Mérignac, “On the other hand, this circuit still causes dissatisfaction from local residents, rather from Saint-Médard-en-Jalles, who, depending on the winds, experience noise pollution. I'm not against a circuit, but certainly not in an urban environment. »
A dialogue at a standstill between the two entities which unfortunately saw this circuit close, which was an institution for the people of Bordeaux. A petition, which has already collected 70.000 signatures, is available to provide support!
