“It is the happy culmination of a standoff that will have lasted eleven years”, comments Martine Tartarin, the mayor of La Chapelle-Blanche-Saint-Martin (Indre-et-Loire) after the decision of the Council of State to revoke the project of five wind masts on its commune and the neighbor Vou, because of the presence of black storks, a protected species.
The judges considered that "the nesting species runs a major risk of extinction in France due to its very low numbers" and that the judgment of the Administrative Court of Appeal of Nantes is justified.
She had indeed written: “The damage that the proposed park would have on the conservation of the population of black storks nesting in the immediate vicinity of the site of the wind turbines constituted a serious danger for the environment.
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“The promoter took us for fools”
This long procedure still leaves a bitter taste to the chosen one.
“The promoter underestimated the importance of black storks and took us for fools.
We had to prove that they have been recurring since 1973 in the department.
This presence had not challenged the services of the State either.
For them, it was anecdotal”, deplores Martine Tartarin, who regrets a useless expenditure of energy.
And financial: “We spent more than 10,000 euros for legal costs.
That's a lot for a village like ours.
This money could have been used otherwise!
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The elected also denounces a “harmful” project for the landscape, because the wind turbines were to be 140 m high.
“Our church with its bell tower is only 25 m high”, underlines the mayor.
