CUA, Communauté Urbaine d’Arras : Cities and competencies

A French inter-municipal structure, the CUA (Communauté Urbaine d’Arras) is now headquartered at the Citadelle, built by Vauban in the 17th century. Until May 2012, the inter-municipality, which was created in 1998 (the urban district of Arras has existed since 1965), was headquartered on rue Frédéric Degeorge (an illustrious figure in the town’s history). which we previously reported on here). Comprising 46 communes in 2017, the CUA has the historical distinction of having been created without being subject to the 500,000-inhabitant threshold that characterized the Urban Communities of the 1999 Chevènement law (the intercommunality having existed before the law). Today, and since !a loi de modernisation de l’action publique territoriale et d’affirmation des métropoles of January 27, 2014, the threshold for the creation of an Urban Community is 250000 inhabitants. In 2017, with the integration of the villages of Basseux, Boiry-Saint-Martin, Ficheux, Ransart, Rivière and Roeux, the Arras Urban Community had fewer than 110,000 inhabitants.

Which towns and villages belong to the CUA?

The 46 communes of the CUA are listed below, together with their postal code (or INSEE code) and the “gentilé” (name of the inhabitants) :

Geographical location of the Communauté Urbaine d’Arras

If you need to go to the CUA administrative CUA administrative services, they are located at the Citadelle, opposite the Salle de l’Ordinaire at 146 Allée du Bastion de la Reine in Arras :

Competences of the CUA

With a community council made up of 92 municipal councillors distributed according to population, the CUA has elected its new Chairman in the person of Frédéric Leturque, Mayor of Arras. He succeeds Pascal Lachambre, who in turn succeeded Philippe Rapeneau (who died in office on July 31, 2018). He and his deputies will manage the CUA’s projects and competencies, which include :

• Urban planning,
• habitat,
• economic development through business parks and employment,
• urban transport,
• Water,
• Sanitation,
• public roads,
• waste collection and treatment,
• social and solidarity development.

By definition, the CUA has its own tax system, due to its status as an Urban Community, and is financed by a single professional tax system (FPU), with no community solidarity allowance paid to member communes. Thanks to the CUA, numerous projects have been carried out, notably in the rehabilitation of garrison districts (very present in Arras, as we have already mentioned here) and in particular the Citadelle. For 2022, operating expenditure is in the region of 121,208,000 euros, and investment just under 89,000,000 euros. The largest share of operating and capital expenditure will go to the ZAC (Zone d’Activité Commerciale) budget, for just over 40,000,0000 euros of operating expenditure and 35 million euros of capital expenditure. Ecological projects are also underway, with the creation of a biomass boiler to heat infrastructures such as the hospital and housing. More information on the CUA’s official website.

X.D.