Against noise pollution, local residents are making themselves heard. Between 300 and 400 people demonstrated Saturday morning in front of Lille-Lesquin airport against the site extension project, demanding, on the contrary, a "cap on the number of flights" and a "night curfew", noted an AFP journalist.
"We want to breathe", "climate, planes, we must choose", proclaimed the placards of the demonstrators, who left around 10 am in four processions from Lille, Lesquin, Fretin and Seclin, municipalities near the airport. Gathered at the call of several associations including Nada (No to the expansion of Lille Lesquin airport), ANV-Cop21, Extinction Rebellion or Friends of the Earth, they converged around 11:30 am in front of the terminal, at the entrance of the car parks, greeting each other with applause and shouts of joy.
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Considered anachronistic by its opponents, the extension and modernization project includes the expansion of the terminal, the creation of a new car park and the widening of the main runway. It is based on a scenario of growth in the number of passengers, which would increase from 2.2 million in 2019 to 3.9 million in 2039. The extension of Lille-Lesquin airport is part of a list of 42 contested projects monitored by the Ministry of the Interior, and specifically included in a group of 17 sites considered likely to "lead to a radicalization of actions".
"We will not give up"
The "frantic" increase in air traffic "poses major threats to our lives," said Charlène Fleury, a spokeswoman for Nada. "Noise is a major public health problem" causing "sleep disorders, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases". "Air pollution is the third leading cause of death" in France, and "commercial aviation contributes 7% to CO2 emissions" in France, she said. "We won't give up."
The vice-president of the Lille metropolis and mayor of Bouvines Alain Bernard accused the prefect of "opposing only a heavy silence, a guilty indifference" to the mobilization, despite "the unfavorable opinion of the municipal councils of 35 municipalities", the mobilization of many elected officials or "the rejection of the noise disturbance plan by the airport nuisance control authority". Several elected officials were present, including LFI MP Ugo Bernalicis and the vice-president of the Lille metropolis in charge of climate, Audrey Linkenheld (PS).
