Has the standoff between municipalities and associations over the alley of the Neubourg Battlefield left room for dialogue?
This classified place is very popular with the inhabitants of Neubourg, but the beeches which border it are in a "very poor overall sanitary state", according to the town hall which, contacted, still refuses to speak.
The various parties in this highly publicized dossier may have made progress by meeting around the table on Wednesday 12 May, but for a "working" meeting without decision-making, in which the Prefecture, the Office also participated. National Forest (ONF) and the architect of buildings in France.
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As a reminder, according to a diagnosis of the ONF, about fifty trees of this alley, on an alignment of 167, are sick.
The municipality had announced in October 2020 wanting to cut them down in full, to replace them with a gasoline more resistant to heat.
Faced with the outcry that this announcement sparked and threats of prosecution, the municipal project seems to have been put on hold and the driveway, presented as dangerous, is now closed to the public.
Associations not on the same line
On May 12, Le Neubourg therefore received a visit from representatives of the FNEN (France Nature Environnement Normandie), the LPO (Bird Protection League), the GNSA (National Tree Monitoring Group) and the ASPPAR , which defends the rows of trees.
Organizations not always on the same battle line.
Protection of biodiversity, preservation of the aesthetics of the landscape, preservation of an opening of the driveway to the public… each association has its hobbyhorse. "On the LPO side, our first idea is not to cut any trees to preserve biodiversity and to let them age without intervention, by closing the alley to the public to avoid accidents", confides Jean-Pierre Frodello, director of the LPO Normandie, the organization which has been carrying out an inventory of the species present on site since April 2021 and until next August.
This census concerns in particular bats, plants present at the feet of trees, micromammals and xylophagous insects. “When it is finished, we will discuss the recommendations. It is also possible that the town hall is advised to eliminate some trees. The municipality is in any case on an opening line and tries to have a global vision before making a decision ”.
A diametrically opposed opinion for other associations which do not feel heard: "The meeting was not used for much and I have the feeling that it is just a question of associating people for technical opinions" , for his part, analyzes André Berne, from France Nature Environnement, an association which advocates cutting down only 33 diseased trees. “We still do not understand this desire to destroy everything. To cut everything because there are mushrooms which evolve very slowly, that does not make sense. New meetings could be held before the summer.