Le Figaro Nantes
After Saint-Brévin, place in Loireauxence? "I was very supported by the State and the sub-prefect," says the mayor of this commune of Loire-Atlantique, located between Angers and Nantes, contrary to the words of his counterpart in Brévinois. On May 17, Christine Blanchet was attacked at the entrance of a non-public meeting during which a sensitive subject was going to be discussed: the installation of future wind turbines. Opponents were present at the entrance to show their discontent. The gendarmes were called by the mayor to restore appeasement.
A few days later, after being called an "SS" on the internet and after an exchange with the president of the association of rural mayors of Loire-Atlantique, she decided to file a complaint. She was immediately placed under the protection of the gendarmerie: daily patrols are carried out around her home and she was even offered to install cameras in her home.
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A meeting for elected officials
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This meeting was intended for all elected officials. When I arrived, the VCNA collective [Association Vent Contre Nature Auxence] was outside. I greeted them, we talked, they asked me to enter the room. I said that this was not the place and that we had already exchanged time and again, "says the Figaro the elected. "They had a bugle, they put full ears," continues the one who describes an "oral aggression": "it was very violent, aggressive". She also remembers being "pushed".
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There is a notch of the past in violence and disrespect for local democracy. I don't want to walk around with a bulletproof vest and a gun. It's worrying, "says the one who has been elected for 15 years and has already found the tires of her vehicle punctured. But this time, it goes further than personal attacks: "the whole council is in a difficult position". On Tuesday, May 30, the municipal council was indeed held in the presence of gendarmes again, while deliberations concerning the wind turbines were to be taken and that members of VCNA were present.
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There was no threat, no jostling or insult as claimed by the Mayor
Laurence Marchand, President of VCNA
Contacted, the association Vent Contre Nature Auxence denies any aggression. "There was no threat, no jostling or insult as claimed by the Mayor," says President Laurence Marchand. Those present just expressed their legitimate dissatisfaction with this project that has been decided and is moving behind their backs."
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This commission was not only between elected officials since the members of the wind and territory authority were invited, "she continues about the meeting of May 17. This body seems to be the starting point of tensions. Set up two years ago by the town hall, it aims to associate the voice of the territories, usually set aside: "the installation of wind turbines is authorized in agricultural areas on the territories and is done privately between project leaders and owners," says Christine Blanchet, whose home will be located opposite the four future wind turbines. Initially, the citizen body was made up of residents, citizens, members of the pro-wind association EOLA - Éoliennes en Pays d'Ancenis, and against, VCNA. "At the time of signing a charter of general commitment, VCNA did not want to sign it," continues the mayor to justify the withdrawal of opponents.
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Laurence Marchand indicates that this charter included a "confidentiality commitment" that she "refused to sign": "I am obliged to report to our members on what is happening within our body," she defends. She was not informed of this exclusion and discovered it last February.
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We are just peaceful residents expressing an opinion that does not go in the direction of the town hall, "continues the opponent. "The problem is that our mayor talks about listening, dialogue and consultation. We've been asking elected officials to speak for two years, we've never had an answer." While the defendant insists on the resources allocated to the association since its creation: "We subsidized them for their first project. We organize a forum of associations: we were able to exchange with them. They use the municipality's news flash." By the body she ardently supports, Christine Blanchet wants on the contrary "to be an actor" and not "in the opposition".
