Décines: Paid meeting rooms for political groups? The courts say no

" A real victory for local democracy ," Mathieu Vieira, opposition city councilor from the Décines Autrement group, welcomed this Thursday. In an order issued on May 22, the Lyon administrative court, seized in summary proceedings by several Décines elected officials, suspended the new conditions of access to the city's municipal halls, implemented on April 3 by Mayor Laurence Fautra.

A resolution had established a difference in the rental conditions between the “ city partner ” associations and those falling under the category “ political parties, associations, groups and organizations of a political or local civic nature ”. For the latter, the community hall and the community center had been made inaccessible, and the rental of the employment center increased to €150.

The administrative court considers in its order that the town hall of Décines has " too strictly regulated access " to municipal premises, leading to " serious doubts as to the legality " of the deliberation. The employment center, with a capacity of 40 people, is thus deemed too small, particularly in view of the municipal elections. The new rental conditions have thus " significantly restricted the possibilities of organizing meetings of the associations concerned and caused serious and immediate harm to their situation," indicates the court.

A judgment on the merits must now be rendered before March 2026. In the meantime, the conditions of access to municipal halls remain those in effect before the deliberation taken in April. " This first step marks a disavowal for the municipal majority, which stubbornly pushed through despite warnings from opposition elected officials of all groups ," the elected officials of the Décines group consider differently.