Carole Zeimetz and Christophe Origer, both belonging to The Greens (déi gréng), were the only councillors who opposed the signing of the lease agreements for a shopping outlet in the Echternach town centre on Monday.
On Thursday, the two municipal members held a press conference in order to highlight their concerns and raise the alarm over the municipality's financial risk-taking. Echternach mayor Carole Hartmann of the Democratic Party (DP) had previously declared she was ready to take that risk.
Among The Greens' concerns is the question of rent, which could be charged back to the municipality if the commercial premises remain vacant next year. Zeimetz and Origer said there were no investors, citing as evidence the resignation of the consultant hired to complete the project on 1 March, after costing the council €1.6 million.
The Echternach council has invested nearly €3 million in the project to date. But Zeimetz and Origer say it is time to bring this to an end. As indicated in a press release, "the house of cards is about to collapse". Even if investors applied tomorrow, there would not be sufficient commercial space available, they said.
Preparations for the shopping outlet launched in 2017, with a plan envisaging 6,000 square metres to be made available to the expected brands. But to date, the council has only managed to secure 1,600 square metres of commercial space, of which a portion is not yet ready for purpose, according to the Green councillors.
They went on to say that waiting for this "miracle" shopping outlet had contributed to halting the commercial dynamic in the town over the last few years, even with the introduction of pop-up stores in the town centre.
"We have always supported this initiative," Zeimetz explained to RTL. But in reality, the presence of these temporary outlets has prevented other businesses from opening in the vacant spaces.
Regarding alternatives, few concrete proposals have been put forward to revitalise the town centre. A first step could be to invest the funds earmarked for this outlet into support for retailers who wish to establish themselves permanently in Echternach, where, as is the case everywhere in the Grand Duchy, rent levels remain very high.
