The citizens of the commune of Sonvilier, in the Bernese Jura, rejected the Quatre Bornes wind farm project for the second time on Sunday by 53.6% of voters. The turnout reached 70.2%. In 2020, the project had been rejected by four votes, but a committee made up of citizens had launched an initiative demanding that a new vote be held.
At exactly 2 p.m., the mayor of Sonvilier, Rosemarie Jeanneret, announced the results to the few citizens, mainly members of the initiative committee, who came to find out live. The population rejected the neighborhood plan, which was equivalent to a building permit, by 309 votes to 259. This bicantonal project of Quatre Bornes planned to install six machines on Bernese territory and three on Neuchâtel soil. For the moment, the Neuchâtel component is blocked by opposition.
The opponents’ arguments therefore convinced a majority of citizens. Grouped together in the association Sauvez l’Echelette, they assured that this project responded to financial interests and would not benefit the region. As during the first vote, they affirmed that the wind turbines would harm the landscape. “I think that people did not accept this new vote well”, declared François Juillard, member of Sauvez l’Echelette, when the results were announced, in front of the municipal administration.
During the campaign, the initiative committee recalled that this project had one less wind turbine compared to the 2020 project and that it included a new regional partner with the Société des Forces électriques de la Goule. It assured that this wind farm would generate financial benefits estimated at 200,000 francs per year for the municipality. For Pascal Gilomen, member of the initiative committee, it is the lack of understanding of the project that is at fault “although there were changes, many said that it was the same project and that there was no reason to vote on it again”. When reading the results, disappointment and astonishment are felt among the project leaders.
The Quatre Bornes wind farm was initiated by farmers in the region who financed the initial studies and carried out the first wind measurements in 2006. They were the ones who then chose to contact the promoter, Groupe E. The investment is estimated at around 90 million francs. /vfe-ATS
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