Redevelopment of the quays, creation of a yacht club, pedestrian promenade... Here is what the new Port-Fréjus concession contract will change

This Saturday, August 2, the public service delegation contract (lease) awarded to the local public company (SPL) Ports de Fréjus for the management of the Roman city's marina will come to an end.

Starting August 3, a new quasi-publicly-owned concession contract, signed on July 30, will take effect. The same SPL will still be in charge, and indirectly, the town hall will hold 95% of its share capital.

This concession was established for a period of 35 years, i.e. until August 2, 2060.

A significant period which is accompanied by an investment plan of some 55 million euros (excluding taxes), the main parts of which are as follows:

- The reconstruction, extension and raising of the offshore dike will represent almost half of this sum (24.5 million).

A program that also includes the creation of a quay dedicated to large units with a traffic lane, weapons lockers and boxes as well as landscaping with a promenade on the dike, in particular.

- Deploy a "phase 1 water plan" providing, for a little over 5 million euros, the creation of a pedestrian promenade , the widening of four quays and the replacement of the outriggers.

- Create a yacht club . An investment of nearly 5 million euros for the construction of a multi-purpose building with a ground floor dedicated to the shipyard and reception, offices and bar-restaurant upstairs.

- Finally, a final project flirts with five million euros: a redevelopment of the quays and public spaces in the Caravello car park with the resurfacing and access to the car park, the creation of spaces with charging stations and also the creation of a landscaped link between the port, the sea wall and the Nature Base.

The fate of the shipyard is back on the table

While the concession period is extensive, the majority of these investments (€46 million) are planned for 2031 and all by 2041.

To meet these expenses, SPL Port-Fréjus plans to borrow some 35 million euros in the coming years but also to gradually increase its prices between 2026 and 2038 and from 2025 for boats of 15 meters and more.

At the last city council meeting, opposition councillor Emmanuel Bonnemain pointed out what he considers to be "a budgetary impasse: the expected turnover of 6.1 million euros for 2026 will not be reached and you know it well. You have in fact just cut it from the 750,000 euros of revenue from the shipyard whose renewal you have just refused, by laying off 21 people. The goal of this arbitrary decision? I don't know, but you are here destroying a business. Finally, nothing is planned for raising the quays while the rising waters are inevitable. The risk, in the long term, is having to recapitalize the SPL, while the city's debt is already out of control."

" You have to stop with your friend from the shipyard ," retorted Mayor David Rachline. "The port issued a temporary occupation permit and the holder has indicated that he does not wish to respond. So I am the gravedigger of nothing at all."

Disadvantageous contract or major step forward for the City?

For his part, Richard Sert, another minority elected official, felt that the contract had not been sufficiently worked on and was not to the advantage of the City.

Citing in particular "the fee to the municipality, the fixed part of which is less than 350,000 euros until 2041, is too low in the first years. The variable part could be paid from the start of the concession and not from 2040, this would allow additional income. I am surprised that the City accepted this schedule when for the future hotel at the Nature Base, the municipality demanded significant payments in the first years of the contract."

The reading of the first councillor is quite different: "This contract is the result of rigorous and ambitious work. It is a balanced partnership which is financed and which responds to the challenges of our time, in particular adaptation to climate change contrary to what has been said. The objective is to offer a modernized service, of better quality and with reinforced security in the entire district with a fee of 35 million euros for the municipality over the duration of the contract. In short, a major step forward to which no sensible person can reasonably oppose" .