The town hall of Paris has given up on the constructions planned at the foot of the Eiffel Tower in its disputed plan for the development of the surroundings of the monument, which attracts 20 million visitors each year, announced the first deputy Emmanuel Grégoire to
the Sunday newspaper (JDD)
.
Intended to vegetate and pedestrianize the surroundings of the "Iron Lady", the OnE project, presented by the mayor (PS) of the capital Anne Hidalgo, has for months aroused criticism from municipal opposition and environmental defenders.
In particular, it was to lead to the felling of around twenty trees, some of them centenarians.
The town hall gave up in June, after protests from several associations and personalities.
Read alsoThe giant pedestrianization project of the Eiffel Tower at the Trocadéro stirs up anger
It therefore also decided to abandon four planned constructions.
“I am announcing that we are purely and simply canceling any construction project at the foot of the tower, while maintaining the landscaping project
,” Emmanuel Grégoire told
JDD
.
"The overall philosophy remains the same
," insisted the first deputy in charge of town planning.
“We are going to implement 95% of the OnE project, that is to say a landscape continuity from the Trocadéro to the Champ-de-Mars, faithful to the original design, respectful of heritage, with fewer cars and more nature. ".
“We do not give in to pressure, we just want our project not to be parasitized by additional controversies.
Let's say that we correct the irritating points”
, he added, specifying that the budget of the project would consequently fall from 107 to 100 million euros.
Read alsoThe Paris police chief opposed to the redevelopment project around the Eiffel Tower
"Very good news"
, reacted to AFP Christine Nedelec, of France nature environment (FNE),
"but the permits (to build) are still relevant (...) we are waiting for the permits to be withdrawn" .
"
We also want the restoration of the site and its preservation
," she added.
“Satisfaction for the time being but we remain vigilant”
, added Thomas Brail, of the National Tree Monitoring Group (GNSA), who congratulated AFP on the
“associative cohesion which means that we are able to win”
.
On Monday, the associations opposed to the project had demonstrated in front of the trees that were the subject of a survey on the extent of their roots, the town hall wanting to check whether construction was still possible nearby.
Gathered by Emmanuel Grégoire on Friday, they again protested against this method, stressing in particular that digging trenches with a pickaxe at the level of the roots could be fatal to the trees.
