Le Figaro Nantes
It’s a never-ending soap opera.
In Nantes, opponents of the Doulon-Gohards urban project do not hesitate to increase their appeal to the court.
When they are not mobilizing on the ground.
Latest example: the contestation of the environmental authorization of this eco-district under construction described by the metropolis as a place mixing
"urban agriculture, natural spaces, housing and services",
which in the long term
"will be part of the branch of Nantes green star
.
The detractors have been fighting for months, through the Sauvons les Gohards association, against a
“city model, dominated by growth and metropolisation, at the expense of residents and the living”
.
Supported by Margot Medkour, former radical left municipal candidate, or by Extinction Rebellion, they fear
“the concreteization of the neighborhood and the artificialization of 25 hectares of market gardening and natural land”
.
Unlike the metropolis, they speak of
“an anti-social and anti-ecological project”
, which will accommodate between 2,500 and 3,000 housing units.
Read alsoEast of Nantes, the ZAC project raises fears of a ZAD
Opponents appeal the decision
Tuesday morning, the administrative court, also seized by the National Movement for the Fight for the Environment, rendered its decision.
Their appeal was rejected.
“The Nantes administrative court rejects the use of the Doulon-Gohards ZAC project and follows the favorable opinion of the public rapporteur
,” Nantes Métropole said in an enthusiastic press release.
“This favorable judgment confirms that the Doulon-Gohards project is of major public interest.
It allows residents to find accommodation in the heart of the metropolis, thus helping to limit urban sprawl, while participating in the restoration and preservation of nature
,” explains Thomas Quéro, deputy mayor of Nantes delegated to sustainable town planning and urban projects.
Reassessed, his opponents do not interpret the judgment in the same way.
“The Court noted the inadequacies of the environmental measures that we have been denouncing for months, forcing the metropolis to put in place compensatory measures from
phase 1 of the work
. ”
In other words, the renaturation of a few hectares to compensate for artificialization, as well as the creation of wastelands, thickets and ponds must be accelerated and intensified.
What Nantes Métropole has understood well.
“These compensatory measures are a lesser evil, in no
case do they cancel or compensate for the brutal destruction of natural environments
,” however deplores the Sauvons les Gohards association.
In this context, and while the work undertaken is not intended to be stopped,
“we are appealing because the court did not correctly assess our contributions on the incompleteness of the impact study in terms of species protected areas and inventory of wetlands
.
A forum bringing together 100 scientists was also published Tuesday on their website to warn of
“the continued artificialization of soils at a time when the consequences of ecological destruction are largely palpable and, for many, irreversible.”
Opponents have planned a new public action on April 6.