Le Figaro Nantes
Along the Côte d’Amour, north of Saint-Nazaire, the “irregular installations” of travelers dance with the seasons.
They slip away in the fall and reappear in fine weather, with the regularity of a metronome.
The annual spectacle of the comings and goings of caravans does not, however, amuse everyone in this northern portion of the Loire-Atlantique.
Neighborhood nuisances, soil pollution, loss of tourist attractiveness, loss of income for farmers whose land is occupied... The proliferation of illegal camps reached records last year, causing frustration among local elected officials .
Faced with discontent, the State is preparing a response.
This is being simmered by the sub-prefecture of Saint-Nazaire, in collaboration with the towns concerned and the national gendarmerie.
In charge, sub-prefect Éric de Wispelaere - who took office last July - confirms to Le
Figaro
that he is preparing to
“manage with great firmness”
the issue of illegal settlements of travelers.
“I noticed a lot of dismay and helplessness among the elected officials concerned,”
explains the high prefect.
The State will therefore take its responsibilities.
We must be rigorous: the habits adopted by certain communities are no longer possible.”
First step for prefectural services: identify the areas favored by illegal camps.
After this inventory, the prefecture services will be responsible for implementing their security.
“Porticos, ditches, stones, plowing, concrete blocks, etc. We are going to defend land
,” announces Éric de Wispelaere.
The Loire know-how of the area to be defended, but with a prefectural flavor in short.
“We are completely helpless”
For the municipalities concerned, these actions respond to an urgent need.
At the heart of the storm, the Cap Atlantique urban community, which includes La Baule and Guérande, had attracted some 1,500 wild caravans to its territory, spread across 27 illegal installations.
An occupation which then corresponded to 40% of Traveler camps in Loire-Atlantique.
“There have never been as many caravans as there are today.
They are also each larger, with groups of more than 400 vehicles
, notes Éric de Wispelaere.
Real little traveling villages can now set up on public or private land, without declaring their arrival
.
Locally, prefectural help is more than welcome.
A meeting with all the elected officials concerned should be held by the end of February.
“We are completely helpless,”
indicates a close friend of Nicolas Criaud, mayor of Guérande and president of Cap Atlantique, who mentions a drastic increase in the phenomenon over the past five years or so.
Throughout last summer, we were informed of conflicts of use, stories of frightened neighbors, health concerns linked to the living conditions of these communities… But we do not have the means to make them go away”
.
Also read: “We don’t want to annoy people, but get politicians moving”: farmers facing the blues of their extinction
The means of action are indeed limited.
The carrot, the legal areas set up for travelers, is completely ignored: the promiscuity between rival communities and the paying nature of these sites do not attract caravans.
These reserved spaces are, moreover, a bit too far from the sea. As for the stick, you have to wait on average 14 days for the expulsion orders to go through the administrative circuit and the courts before being applied by the prefecture of Loire-Atlantique and the gendarmerie - compared to half as many in Morbihan.
The best solution therefore remains, according to the prefecture, to firstly prevent Traveler communities from settling without authorization wherever they wish, starting next summer.
Provided, of course, that the monster security system of the Paris Olympic Games does not consume all of the department's security forces.