For its expansion, the Brignoles hospital center is requesting a grant of 4 million from the Provence Verdon Community Council

Community elected officials held a council meeting. Among the many key points, Damien Flouret, director of the Brignoles Hospital Center, spoke to present the "Passerelle" project .

This involves the creation of a new building necessary to improve patient care and increase capacity by 50% , but also to attract new specialist practitioners.

The estimated amount needed for its completion is €29 million. The Regional Health Agency is contributing €16 million. The financing plan remains to be finalized to complete this project before the end of September.

The director therefore began a tour of the three communities of communes in the area to request a contribution of 4 million euros.

The elected officials pointed out to the director that his hospital did not enjoy a good reputation. They questioned him about how he would attract practitioners, given the region's shortage of doctors, not to mention the problems of access and parking.

Elected officials unanimously agree that it is urgent to restore the institution's image to make it more attractive. They will contribute to the funding, but the amount to be allocated remains a matter of debate.

Tourist tax, seat allocation and biomass power plant

The Provence Verdon Community of Communes (CCPV) has also decided to renew, for 2026, the same tourist tax rates applied in 2024. As a reminder, this resource is intended to finance tourism promotion actions.

The CCPV only receives a tiny fraction of this fee (the rest goes, for example, to the municipality, the Department, etc.). Last year, the community of communes collected 17,653 euros of the 181,701 euros collected in this way.

Another point to note: the council issued an unfavorable opinion on an impact study. Explanations. On November 29, 2012, the company GazeLEnergie was authorized to operate a thermal power plant powered by biomass in the municipalities of Meyreuil and Gardanne (Bouches-du-Rhône).

To generate electricity, the plant's needs are estimated at 450,000 tonnes of biomass per year. In total, 240,000 tonnes of forest wood come from the Mediterranean region.

And so the forests of Provence Verdon... In view of the environmental impacts of the proposed extractions and to avoid massive deforestation, the elected officials refused the study and, consequently, any logging linked to the power plant.