At the beginning of October 2023, an article in the regional daily La Montagne revealed that the company Biosyl, whose main shareholder is the enormous forestry cooperative Unisylva, planned to create a pellet manufacturing factory in Guéret. It already has two factories in Nièvre and Haute-Loire. This factory would be located on 14 hectares of land and would consume 140,000 tonnes of hardwood wood per year (from forests within a 150 km radius around Guéret) to produce 85,000 tonnes of pellets.
A first discussion meeting brought together 250 people in the fall. The mobilization is supported by around twenty local associations as well as the Creuse branch of France Nature Environnement, the Canopée association, specializing in the defense of forests and the “forest group” of the Limousin Mountain Syndicate. It is supported by unions and left-wing parties… A larger public meeting took place on January 28, 2024, bringing together around 600 people. Antoine de Cockborne, CEO of Biosyl, invited to debate his project, preferred not to come. It was a meeting that was both interesting and dynamic with film, theater, songs… and political speeches.
The day after this meeting, the prefect of Creuse announced that she was giving the green light to this factory creation without an authorization procedure or public inquiry. The town hall of Guéret and that of Saint-Fiel (the land straddles the two communes) had each granted a building permit in December. On February 7, FNE23 and Canopée filed appeals to cancel the building permits: the land on Saint-Fiel is classified as a natural zone, that on Guéret is more than 10 hectares and includes a wetland, etc. On March 11, the mayor of Saint-Fiel withdrew the wrongly granted building permit.
On March 20, the associations learned that the regional council of Nouvelle-Aquitaine was preparing to vote on a subsidy of €650,000 to Biosyl for the establishment of its factory. Canopé and regional elected officials (ecologists and PCs) are mobilizing to explain all the bad things they think about Biosyl. The examination of the grant application is removed from the agenda. In May, a scientific study of the flora and fauna of the planned land revealed the presence of protected species. Canopée and FNE23 file an appeal for annulment against the prefect's decision of January 29.
A large demonstration in defense of the Limousin forests was planned for Sunday June 30. She also had to oppose the extension of the Farge sawmill in Egletons, in Corrèze, even if this second point of tension often takes a back seat. The June demonstration was postponed due to legislative elections. It was this demonstration that took place from October 4 to 6. Despite quite a lot of media hype and splendid weather, the expected 5,000 demonstrators turned out to be only 3,000. The evening of the 4th was devoted to the reception on land lent by the town of Guéret. In this regard, we can note that the mayor of Guéret, who granted the building permit to Biosyl last December, has today turned into an opponent of the project, which has not prevented the urban community to sell the land…
On the morning of the 5th, a few hundred demonstrators were able to visit the site with naturalists and observe this nature in need of conservation. Reenacting the “march of the sticks” which took place in Notre-Dame-des-Landes in 2016 (as a commitment made to return to defend the ZAD if the airport project was maintained), a few hundred people planted their sticks on the site. During the meal that followed, a press conference allowed representatives of the two organizing associations to present their criticisms of the project before giving the floor to the numerous elected officials (regional, national and European) predominantly LFI and eco-friendly. Ultimately the march did not leave directly from this site, but following a carpool closer to the city center where other demonstrators had gathered. As desired by the organizers, it was a completely family and festive event following a structure representing a yellow-bellied ringing toad. The hanging of banners and collages along the route did not constitute a departure from this determined but respectful parade.
Under the careful surveillance (but at a reasonable distance) of numerous police forces, we were able to march through the streets of Guéret. The prefecture had prohibited passage in front of its main entrance by a barrier unprecedented in Limousin: a wall of grilles and plexiglass plates behind which the cops were hiding. Symbolically, handfuls of pellets were thrown over the gates of the backyard of the prefecture (renamed “Pelleture de la Creuse” by a banner for the occasion). A person was arrested during this episode… she had accidentally confused a stepladder with a handful of pellets. She was released before the end of the demonstration, but this was not due to pressure from the demonstrators, who were told by the organizers to go and listen to the speeches taking place at the town hall, a few dozen meters below. , but due to the negotiation of the organizers of the event.
The energy of this event pleasantly surprised the region. However, we can legitimately wonder if it will be enough to abandon the project (the prefect is, it seems, perfectly narrow-minded) or if more radical actions will have to be implemented. Some activists regret that the demonstration took this very conventional and festive turn and did not take place on the site of the Farges factory, in Egletons, to stop it for at least a day… Actions directly affecting the portfolio of these structures rather than their image will perhaps be necessary in the future to make our determination heard. And we don't forget the promise made to come and collect our sticks on site – that is to say, occupy the area – if the work were to begin!
Source: Oclibertaire.lautre.net
