“Mr. President of the Republic, […] we invite you to abandon the project to extend Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport. The request made in the joint letter sent on January 10 to Emmanuel Macron is very clear. They are now 67 mayors and presidents of Ile-de-France communities of all political stripes to oppose the future construction of the gigantic T4 terminal.
The mayors of Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine), Patrick Jarry (Left citizen), Ermont (Val d'Oise), Hugues Portelli (LR), Paris, Anne Hidalgo (PS) or even Saint-Denis, Laurent Russier (PCF) are among the signatories, like the presidents of the territories of Plaine commune and Est Ensemble, but also of the departments of Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne.
Tricolor scarf on the bust, the elected officials met this Thursday afternoon at the headquarters of Plaine commune, in Saint-Denis to make their voices and their difference heard publicly. A new position which contrasts with the not so distant era when the job promises of the Roissy airport extension projects counted more than environmental issues.
"Climate and health protection"
"Between hypothetical growth prospects and the protection of the climate and the health of our fellow citizens, we have for our part chosen", details the letter in which Emmanuel Macron is asked "to consider together the construction of generative alternatives activities, ecologically responsible and protective of the inhabitants. "
No to the nuisance of airplanes, yes to economic development, this is in summary what elected officials defend for their region. "We need jobs, but aren't there other ways to create them?" I believe that the great contemporary question is to no longer oppose societal questions to environmental questions ”, judge David Proult, deputy mayor of town and country planning in Saint-Denis.
The extension project carried by the ADP group is effectively in line with forecasts of traffic growth, estimated between 2 and 3% per year. “The opening of terminal 4 would represent 38% more traffic. For a city like Epinay, this is colossal, ”warns Eugénie Ponthier, deputy mayor at the origin of the call.
By 2037, the year when the T4 is supposed to be in full service, Roissy could support between 107 and 126 million annual passengers (compared to 76.2 million in 2019) and record between 620,000 to 660,000 movements of aircraft (compared to 498,175 in 2019).
"They promise us 50,000 jobs, but it's blowing!" "
"This T4 will especially be used to make stops, to distribute people in transit but it will not benefit the territory", fears Hervé Chevreau, mayor (SE) of Epinay-sur-Seine.
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A point of view shared by Xavier Melki, mayor (LR) of Franconville (Val-d'Oise). "They promise us 50,000 jobs, but it's blowing!" How many direct jobs? How many long-term jobs? He wonders. When we look at the figures, for 6 years the number of jobs has fallen on the Roissy platform despite the exponential increase in flights. "
The doubts of the elected official echo a controversy that surrounded the economic hypotheses indicated by the ADP group, during the prior consultation organized between February and May 2019. According to the GIP Emploi de Roissy (which brings together private and public partners since 1998 ), the number of posts linked to Terminal 4 could represent 4,000 to 5,000 jobs per year, in the construction phase and ultimately, between 40,600 and 44,700 jobs, for the operational phase.
The public inquiry for "environmental authorization" will take place in the second quarter of 2020.
