Louis Privat, the boss of the Grands Buffets, notes with bitterness the impossibility of communicating with the president of Grand Narbonne Didier Mouly, about the Espace de Liberté. He points to “dilapidation and unsanitary conditions in certain places” of which his clientele is a victim and plans to move.
“Narbonne, the city of Grands Buffets”, proclaim the billboards. Will it remain so for long? Nothing is less sure to hear Louis Privat. These are not empty words, pronounced in anger by the boss of the Grands Buffets. “We are studying ways to leave Narbonne. There will certainly be investments that will not be amortized. But this inconvenience will be largely compensated for by a global and coherent project. With the creation of one or perhaps two hotels, a grandiose hall of regional products. I am encouraged in this reflection by a financial group which for several years has wanted to be associated with the development of the Grands Buffets.” The reason for this radical choice: the lack of dialogue with the Grand Narbonne and its president Didier Mouly who manages the equipment hosting the restaurant and which Louis Privat considers to be “dilapidated and unsanitary for some parts”.
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Narbonne: the Espace de Liberté, a site that has become too small for the former “Cafet'” which has become Grands Buffets
Why did you come to study the possibility of leaving Narbonne?
Didier Mouly has no interest in our problems and our customers. We sent letters to find solutions but we have no return, no answer. He behaves indifferently. He deliberately creates a situation of unbearable discomfort for the customers of the Espace de liberté and the Grands Buffets. It’s not acceptable. Today, on traveler review platforms, we are being demolished when it is not our fault. The public by challenging the Grands Buffets is wrong target.
What specific problems are you encountering?
Under the pyramid, in the reception hall of the Espace de liberté, which is the only access to the restaurant, when it rains, there are gutters everywhere. There is a major sealing problem identified for years and never properly repaired. It’s still not insurmountable to solve. In the dishwashing room, there was recently a cataract of water that fell from the ceiling. Another thing, in summer under the pyramid, the temperature rises to 54°C. There were sunscreens, they weren’t replaced. The air conditioning system has been broken for several years and never repaired. All of that is beyond our control. And in the restaurant, we reach 30°C while contractually, the Grand Narbonne must have a comfort temperature that must not exceed 26°C. On the comments, we are told that if we are not able to air-condition our rooms, it is not worth opening them. And the lift for the disabled hasn’t worked for three years. It is humiliating for them. I’m not even talking about the parking lot which is in a terrible state. No tracing on the ground, no materialized pedestrian path, the same degraded trash cans for ages.
The gutters in the entrance hall when it rains.
“On all files, Didier Mouly is obstructing”
Have you tried to establish a dialogue with the president of Grand Narbonne?
For a very long time, I tried to put on a good face, to solve problems with kindness in a constructive spirit. But each time, the next shot, Didier Mouly gave me a problem. For example, we had meetings with his teams. I texted him to continue this meeting and find solutions. To all the technical problems identified, he never answered me. On all the files, he obstructed He gave me formal notice to remove without hearing the sign, located at the entrance to the car park, while we have 5 years to bring it into compliance with the regulations. He also refused me the displacement of the dish and the increase in the surface of the dining room of the personnel. Perhaps he has long-term renovation projects, but that is not a reason for letting the facilities deteriorate and not ensuring the maintenance necessary for the Espace de liberté to be worthy of our city and to honor to our visitors who often come from far away.
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Possible departure from Narbonne: the Grand Buffets soon installed near Perpignan?
Do you think the situation can evolve favorably?
There is not much hope. Didier Mouly is contemptuous for the work we have done. He has contempt for the people of Narbonne and tourists by offering them equipment unworthy of Narbonne. He has contempt for the magnificent work accomplished in several decades by Me Hubert Mouly who was an immense mayor and administrators of the city. Why abandon this heritage that many provincial towns envied us? He thinks himself above the public and despises the 363,000 customers a year who come to Les Grands Buffets. And the 400,000 users of the swimming pool, ice rink and bowling alley. L’Espace de liberté, prestigious achievement, pride of Me Hubert Mouly, became under the mandates of Didier Mouly, for lack of maintenance, a degraded equipment and in places unsanitary.
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Narbonne: faced with a “lack of maintenance” of the Espace de Liberté, Les Grands Buffets plan to leave the city
€12 million over 4 years to redo the roof and bring the Espace Liberté up to standard
The Greater Narbonne agglomeration community has voted an investment budget of 12 million euros spread over 4 years to redo the entire roof, tighten the glasses of the pyramid, isolate the ice rink from the outside, change swimming pool pumps and carry out various works. The “totem” displaying the Grands Buffets in height, placed on the property of the City of Narbonne would not comply, according to the mayor, with the regulations on outdoor advertising voted in 2011 within the framework of the Grenelle de l’environnement. Posters had until the end of July 2022 to comply. The new Climate and Resilience law passed in 2021 decentralizes the power of control to town halls on January 1, 2024.
