Left and right will visit Terra Botanica... accounts

The economic situation of Terra Botanica, the amusement and botanical park located in Angers and opened in 2010, will be, in the weeks to come, audited in its financial aspects and about the positioning of its image. Through that facility, the Conseil général intended to provide to the Maine-et-Loire a "locomotive" to stimulate the development of tourism. But, more than three years after it started, the recorded attendance is not as important as planned (the 2013 figures would have decreased by 8% in comparison with the previous year). In order to reduce the tensions on the financial balance, the Conseil général has given up the cashing of the rent, € 200 000 per year.

Credit pictures : Terra Botanica

In a presse release, the Angers deputy-mayor in charge of commerce, Jacques Motteau, and the Ponts-de-Cé mayor, Joël Bigot, greeted the announ-cement of the audit ordered by Terra Botanica president, Jean-Pierre Chavassieux. Terra Botanica is managed by a company whose capital is owned by local authorities and, among them, the city of Angers and the Conseil général. The issue, especially if the results of the audit are not favourable, could become a polemic in the municipal campaign, or because it's the municipal campaign.

The issue was already discussed during a recent meeting of the Conseil général dedicated to financial purposes. So the supporters of the current Angers mayor in and outside that authority could seize the opportunity to criticize Christophe Béchu's financial management.