Removed Wayspot Appeal – Association Joinville-le-Pont–Guelma – France

Wayspot Appeals
1

Wayspot Title: Association Joinville-le-Pont–Guelma
Location: 48.8164944, 2.4683350
City: Joinville-le-Pont
Country: France

I am requesting the restoration of this legitimate Wayspot, which disappeared despite the physical point of interest still existing.

This Wayspot was originally accepted by Wayfarer following my nomination in August 2024. After its disappearance, the same physical POI was subsequently submitted and accepted again in 2026.

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The association itself is independently documented in the French Government’s official business and associations directory at this address : https://annuaire-entreprises.data.gouv.fr/entreprise/499745354

I am attaching the corresponding Wayfarer acceptance records and current photographs confirming that the physical POI still exists.

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This is also one of several legitimate Wayspots in the same very small area that have repeatedly disappeared despite subsequently being accepted again by Wayfarer.

The person believed to be behind this behaviour is well known among local Pokémon GO players as a player whose repeated actions have been disrupting other players’ experience for years. The local community has independently reached the same conclusion regarding these repeated incidents. I will submit the broader pattern separately as a Wayfarer abuse/harassment report.

I respectfully ask Niantic to review the removal and restore this Wayspot.

2

Hello,

If a wayspot is removed such as this one has been in the past, the correct procedure is as you have done this time to appeal here. You should not have been resubmitting it.

There are a number of reasons why something could be removed, and it is good you have posted a current picture.

There may be a translation issue but what actually happens at this location? The description on the weblink translates simply as a public utility which does not sound correct.

Is this the registered contact place for the business or do events happen here?

Why would go there?

I think these sorts of points would be useful for the team to know.

3

Hello,

Thank you for your reply. I understand the question, and I probably did not explain the nature and purpose of this location clearly enough in my original post.

This is not simply an administrative address for an inactive organisation. It is the contact and activity location of the Association Joinville-le-Pont–Guelma, an active association dedicated to developing cultural relations and exchanges between Joinville-le-Pont in France and Guelma in Algeria.

There are two official sources which clarify this.

1. The official French Government business and organisations register confirms that the association is active, was created in 2007, is recognised as being of public utility (“reconnue d’utilité publique”), and has its registered establishment at 48 rue de Paris, 94340 Joinville-le-Pont:

https://annuaire-entreprises.data.gouv.fr/entreprise/499745354

2. More importantly regarding what actually happens there, the official website of the municipality of Joinville-le-Pont lists 48 rue de Paris as a “Lieu de pratiques” (place of activity) for the association.

The municipality describes its activities as:

“Rapprochement entre 2 villes. Voyages en Algérie et expositions culturelles.”

In English: “Bringing the two cities closer together. Trips to Algeria and cultural exhibitions.”

Official municipal page:

So, to answer your questions directly: yes, this is the association’s official location and a place associated with its activities, not merely an arbitrary address. People can contact the association there regarding its activities and Franco-Algerian cultural exchanges. The association organises cultural trips and exhibitions and contributes to exchanges between the populations of the two partner cities.

This cultural and social function is precisely why I considered it an appropriate Wayspot. It represents a longstanding local organisation whose purpose is to encourage cultural exchange and social interaction between Joinville-le-Pont and Guelma.

It was also accepted by Wayfarer following my original nomination in 2024 and accepted again when I resubmitted the same POI after its disappearance.

I hope these two official references clarify both the status of the association and the actual purpose of this location. Thank you for taking the time to review the appeal.

4

Edit: I see three doorbells at this building, so it is probably not a single family private residence

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5

Cultural exchanges between two places in different countries are interesting social and educational events.

What you are describing I think is a place that organises these cultural events rather than the venue that hosts these events.

So you contact this association based here, and they tell of events they have organised taking place elsewhere.

It would seem to be a small location to have those sorts of events at.

6

I understand your distinction, and I agree that the larger cultural events and trips organised by the association obviously take place elsewhere.

However, I think there may be a misunderstanding about what I am presenting as the point of interest here.

This is not simply an administrative address or a registered office with no activity attached to it. It is the local reception and contact point of the association, where members of the public can come to obtain information about the association, its activities and the Franco-Algerian cultural exchanges it promotes.

The association has been established in Joinville-le-Pont for many years and is officially referenced by the municipality at this location. Its purpose is to maintain and develop the relationship between Joinville-le-Pont and Guelma, including cultural exchanges and organised cultural trips. The premises therefore provide a permanent physical presence in the town through which residents can discover the association, meet/contact it and learn about its activities.

I don’t think the fact that the premises are small should determine whether the place has social or cultural significance. Local associations very often operate from modest premises. Their meetings, trips or larger events may take place elsewhere, while their permanent local premises remain the place where the organisation is represented and where the public can engage with it.

In that sense, I am not claiming that this is an “event venue”. I am suggesting that it is a local community and cultural point of contact, connected to a long-standing association whose purpose is precisely to encourage cultural exchange and social connections between the two towns.

Of course, I understand that this does not automatically make every association office eligible. My point is that the actual function of this particular location, rather than simply its size, should be considered when assessing whether it is a place that encourages social interaction and/or helps people discover the cultural life of the local community.

Ultimately, I am happy for the Wayfarer team to determine whether that function is sufficient under the eligibility criteria, but I wanted to clarify that the nomination is not based merely on the fact that an association happens to have its postal address here.

7

I will often consider these using a more obvious example…

An “Exercise Gym” even a large chain are great places to Exercise and are therefor Acceptable.

If said Gym has a corporate head quarters that just deal with the Admin / Accounts etc and there is no actual Gym at the location then IMO it should be Rejected. Even if it has a customer facing front desk where you can go and ask “Where is the closest Gym to…”.

This sounds more like the head quarters…

8

I understand your analogy, but it’s not an administrative address. The association has a permanent plaque on the building specifically identifying its presence there, which strongly suggests that it is intended as a physical point of contact with the public. It would be rather unusual to spend money installing such signage for an address used solely for administrative purposes.

Activities also take place there — for example, the association organises meals (including couscous meals) on the premises. So this is not simply an office directing people to events held elsewhere, but an actual place where the association and its community meet.

9

Hi,

I’m posting this message to self-report another pending nomination (thank you @cyndiepooh for the tip :wink:) that I submitted on August 21, before I became aware of the recommended Wayfarer process regarding previously removed Wayspots.

I’ve just noticed that this nomination is still pending. I actually thought that the nomination process had already been stopped following my previous exchange.

I submitted it before discovering the Wayfarer website and becoming aware of the recommended process regarding previously removed Wayspots. Until then, I had been submitting directly through the Pokémon GO app, which does not provide all of this information during the nomination process.

I initially came to the Wayfarer website because several Wayspots in my area had been removed and, in the context of ongoing targeted harassment by another player, I suspected that these removals might be connected to it. This is how I discovered the appropriate process for dealing with removed Wayspots.

I now understand that resubmitting a previously removed Wayspot is generally not recommended and that, if I believe a removal was incorrect, I should use the appropriate Wayfarer process instead. I apologize for the misunderstanding and any inconvenience caused.

Since learning this, I have tried to withdraw this pending nomination myself, but I cannot find any option to cancel it at this stage. Would it be possible to stop or cancel the nomination process on your side?

I am reporting it myself because I do not want this pending nomination to be mistaken for a new resubmission made after I became aware of the recommended procedure. It was submitted beforehand, on August 21.

Thank you for your help, and again, my apologies for the misunderstanding.

10

Thanks for the appeal, @Infojerome! We have taken another look but stand by our decision to retire this Wayspot.