Rapport analytique
Retransmission en direct de la séance
Development of Place de la Constitution
QUESTION POSED BY ELISABETH MARGUE
Political discussions on developing Place de la Constitution have been going on for several years. A particular issue has been removing the car park and creating a greener, more welcoming space. A plan published in the appendix to the response by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Mobility and Public Works François Bausch to a parliamentary question on this topic provides for cutting down many trees as part of the development project. How old are the trees in question? Can the College of Aldermen confirm that these trees will be removed? If so, does it approve of this measure?
RESPONSE PROVIDED BY MAYOR LYDIE POLFER
The City does not have any information on the age of the trees because Place de la Constitution and the trees belong to the State. You will recall that the State had organised an ideas competition to develop the square. The City disagreed with the development project proposed by the architects who won first prize because it included cutting down many large trees that provide shade in the summer. The plan did allow for planting new trees, but it would take a long time for them to grow.
The College of Aldermen met with Minister Bausch to discuss this, and he agreed with the City representatives that it would be better to avoid cutting down several old trees. It was decided to have the architects amend their plans to ensure that the beautiful old trees would be kept, and that only a few small trees that block a view of the Pétrusse Valley would be cut down. There are plans to meet with the stakeholders again.
Additional powers for municipal workers
QUESTION POSED BY CLAUDINE KONSBRUCK
The law of 27 July 2022 relating to municipal administrative fines and additional powers for municipal workers (loi du 27 juillet 2022 relative aux sanctions administratives communales et à l'élargissement des compétences des agents municipaux) sets out a series of new measures available to municipal authorities, and specifically a list of the offences and anti-social behaviour that are now liable to incur a fine. How does the largest municipality in the country intend to implement this major new law? How does the College of Aldermen plan to update the City's General Regulations on Public Order and Safety (Règlement général de police de la Ville)? Have special training courses for municipal workers begun yet? Does the City plan to hire additional municipal workers?
RESPONSE PROVIDED BY MAYOR LYDIE POLFER
The number of municipal workers will increase from 79 to 83. The General Regulations on Public Order and Safety, as they will be amended during this meeting of the Municipal Council, will need to be approved by the Ministry of Home Affairs (Ministère de l'Intérieur), but municipal workers will be told about it and trained before the ministry issues its approval. This training will also include courses on conflict management delivered by staff members of the "À vos côtés" project.
Municipal workers will be authorised to take action for 17 different offences. In principle, violations of the other provisions of the General Regulations on Public Order and Safety may be penalised only by the Grand Ducal Police unless the municipal workers have completed a special course offered by the National Institute for Public Administration (Institut national de l'administration publique – INAP). To date, four municipal workers have completed this course. These workers are required to have passed the internal promotion exam and taken an oath before the District Court. No municipal workers have taken the oath yet. The law of 27 July 2022 entered into force on 1 January 2023, but the INAP training I am referring to has only been offered since February 2023.
Valorlux bags
QUESTION POSED BY TOM KRIEPS
Valorlux bags are often left on public thoroughfares or on private property outside scheduled waste collection days. I illustrated this question with a photo taken on Rue de la Toison d'Or in Belair, where you can see Valorlux bags in a hedge and behind an electrical enclosure in front of a residential building. The waste management regulation (règlement sur la gestion des déchets) is not entirely clear when it comes to situations where Valorlux bags are on private property. In this specific case, does leaving the blue bags outside contravene the City's waste management regulation or the national legislation on waste? Does the City plan to penalise people who leave bags outside at times and in places where they are not supposed to?
RESPONSE PROVIDED BY ALDERMAN PATRICK GOLDSCHMIDT
The problem of Valorlux bags being left on public thoroughfares on non-collection days is a recurring one in the city because it is very difficult – if not impossible – to determine whose bags they are. In addition, leaving Valorlux bags outside on non-collection days often has a snowball effect because, when other people see blue bags outside, they think that they too need to leave their bags outside.
It is prohibited to dispose of waste on private property, but the City does not have the resources to take action when this happens. If bags are left on public thoroughfares outside the waste collection days, the City of Luxembourg's Service Hygiène (Sanitation Department) will send residents a notice telling them that they must remove their bags and not put them back out until collection day. The new version of the General Regulations on Public Order and Safety will include additional provisions on this. With their additional powers, municipal workers will be able to penalise violations of these provisions.
The Service Hygiène takes action on private property directly only in cases of extremely unhygienic conditions. Its first step is always to seek a solution with the property owner. In this specific case, the department said that it had contacted homeowners' association to find a solution for storing Valorlux bags inside the building.
Finalisation of the City of Luxembourg mobility plan
QUESTION POSED BY FRANÇOIS BENOY
The timeline for developing the City of Luxembourg mobility plan was presented during the meeting of the Commission de la mobilité urbaine (Urban Transport Committee) on 30 September 2021. At that time it was announced that the fourth and final phase was scheduled for the third quarter of 2022. Exactly what phase is the mobility plan in now? Some responses were provided in the "Mobilitätsbeirat", but not everything is clear. When will the plan be finalised and presented? Does the College of Aldermen plan to hold a public discussion on this topic at a meeting of the Municipal Council?
RESPONSE PROVIDED BY ALDERMAN PATRICK GOLDSCHMIDT
A "Mobilitätsbeirat" meeting, which Councillor Benoy attended, was held on 25 January 2023. The progress of the plan was discussed at that meeting. The plan is currently being finalised. The next and last meeting is scheduled for 30 March 2023.
As the mobility plan is a crucial tool for supporting the City's development over the next 10 to 15 years, it seems sensible to take the time needed to finalise the last reports, and to make sure that the next College of Aldermen – which will be formed after the municipal elections on 11 June 2023 – has a draft plan that is ready to be discussed by the Municipal Council. The meeting schedule of the advisory committees and the Municipal Council's long agenda would hardly make it possible to look into this important matter again before the elections. It would be helpful for the next Municipal Council to be able to study this important document without being rushed.
People are already aware of the broad lines of the mobility plan through statements Mayor Polfer and I have made to the press. Public transport services will play a central role, given that they are the only way to prevent total immobility in the coming years. Active transport methods will also play an important role, but the percentage of pedestrians is only around 3% at the moment, and even if this number tripled it would only reach 9% or 10%. As such, our public transport system needs to be organised so that the train, tram and bus services complement one another as much as possible. A prerequisite for this is that the necessary lanes are reserved for the buses and the tram. The City plans to continue extending the network of cycling routes.
Automatic removal of residents from the City of Luxembourg's population register.
QUESTION POSED BY MARIA EDUARDA DE MACEDO
In an article published in "Luxemburger Wort" on 20 January 2023, Mayor Polfer said that 2,464 people listed in the City of Luxembourg's population register had been removed from this record because most of these entries were fraudulent.
The City now requires residents to produce a lease or other document proving that they do in fact live where they claim to live. The City website states that to be entered in the population register, new residents must produce a recent electricity, water or landline-phone bill, or a lease, or a certificate providing proof of accommodation issued and signed by the property owner or tenant.
In light of the tight housing market and the fact that the City does not check the addresses provided when declarations of arrival are filed, many people register with addresses in the city even though they live in other municipalities or outside the country.
What information or observations led to the removal of people from the population register in 2022?
What were the profiles of the people who did not really live in Luxembourg City?
How were these people notified that they were being removed from the population register?
Were legal proceedings initiated?
How does the Bierger-Center plan to proceed in the future to prevent this type of situation?
What is the procedure if someone arriving in Luxembourg from abroad with an employment contract wants to be registered but has not yet found accommodation?
RESPONSE PROVIDED BY MAYOR LYDIE POLFER
To qualify for entry in the City's population register, an individual must be living in rented accommodation or a resident's home, or own their accommodation.
In early 2022, the City began checking these details more closely because more and more residents were receiving mail addressed to people who had never lived at the address in question.
Moreover, during the COVID-19 pandemic, many letters inviting residents to come in to municipal centres to pick up protective masks were returned by the City's post office with the words "unknown at this address" written on them.
In the event of irregularities like this, the City can ask the police to carry out on-site inspections. The police did not inform the City of the exact circumstances or actions taken in the different cases, and the City is not authorised to ask for specific information about the people in question.
The people who were automatically removed from the population register are no longer entitled to the many benefits that residents of the capital are entitled to, which range from the possibility of getting married here to receiving financial aid.
Public toilets accessible to people with reduced mobility
QUESTION POSED BY TOM KRIEPS
Few public toilets in Luxembourg City are accessible to people in wheelchairs. Private establishments often lack them. Does the City plan to install more toilets that are accessible to people with reduced mobility, especially in the Gare and Ville-Haute districts? There is also a public toilet accessible to people with reduced mobility in Merl Park, but the park shuts its gates in the early evening.
RESPONSE PROVIDED BY ALDERMAN PATRICK GOLDSCHMIDT
The public-toilet concept developed in 2017 contains information on the existing facilities. As part of this concept, it was decided that all new public toilets must be accessible to people with reduced mobility.
In Ville-Haute, there are toilets accessible to people with reduced mobility Haute near the Bock Casemates (Montée de Clausen), next to the "Klenge Knuedler" (Rue Notre-Dame; temporarily closed during the Knuedler car park extension works), at Place du Théâtre, in the Cercle municipal (Rue du Curé), in the municipal park near the "Pirateschëff" and at Champ des Glacis. In the Gare district, public toilets for people with reduced mobility can be found at Luxembourg Central Station (toilets managed by the CFL) and at Place de Paris.
All future public toilets – for example, in the new Cessange park and the Pétrusse Valley – will be accessible to people with reduced mobility.
I ask that Councillor Krieps notify the City if there is an accessibility issue with a specific public toilet.
Regarding Merl Park, the situation described by Councillor Krieps raises the question of whether the park's opening hours are appropriate in general, and whether the opening hours of certain public toilets should be extended.
