Par
Edwin Bleunven
Published on
Nov 20, 2024 at 6:36 a.m.
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The LGV project which will link Bordeaux to Toulouse is a controversial subject. He is denounced by numerous collectivesincluding Alt LGV Bx Sud – a citizen collective from Gironde – particularly for its impact on the environment.
Despite numerous oppositions, the construction site started in Saint-Médard-d'Eyrans, south of Bordeaux, and some worry already seeing the start of the work.
The LGV, what is it?
The Grand South-West Rail Project (GPSO), which recently became the New South-West Line, should make it possible to create high-speed lines to connect Bordeaux and Toulouse in particular. Announced cost: 14.3 billion. The project must be financed 40% by the State, 20% by the European Union, 40% for local authorities.
Many groups and opponents denounce ecological madness, in particular because of its passage in the Ciron valley, and an estimated cost well below reality.
A construction site on the edge of a Natura 2000 classified area
This is the case for example in Saint-Médard-d'Eyrans in an area classified Natura 2000, close to the stream Cordon d’Or. Here, a roundabout must be built as part of the railway developments in the south of Bordeaux (AFSB). This area has started to be cleared.
If the project starts like this, we wonder how it will end.
This resident of Saint-Médard-d'Eyrans, member of the Alt LGV Bx Sud collective, preferring to remain anonymous, of course denounces the usefulness of the project and pleads “for the renovation of existing tracks“, but also wants to understand “why the project is not carried out according to what was written in theprefectural decree ».
This text, emanating from the prefecture and validated in October, authorized the construction site according to very specific rules which, for opponents of the project, are not applied.
A Natura 2000 area
The website of the Natura 2000 resource center defines these zones as follows: “Tools of the European policy for the preservation of biodiversity, Natura 2000 sites aim to better take into account biodiversity issues in human activities. These sites are designated for protect a certain number of habitats and species representative of European biodiversity, the network represents 27,522 sites and covers 18% of the land and 6% of the exclusive economic zone.
Opposite, in the ranks of GPSO (Grand Projet du Sud-Ouest), which manages the file within SNCF Réseau, Bertrand Comble, operations director deputy for AFSB, ensures that the instructions of the prefectural decree are respected:
The work began several weeks ago under the supervision of an ecologist (ecosystem expert) from an environmental office attached to the project. We are committed to respecting the requests of the very detailed and complete order.
Manual or mechanical felling?
One of the critiques of the Alt LGV Bx Sud collective concerns the slaughter methods trees close to the Natura 2000 site.
It was planned that the felling would be done manually and in several batches. Here it was done at night in a hurry and with a tractor and a shredder.
Faced with this accusation, Bertrand Comble assures that only certain trees are mechanically felled and that those which “potentially host bats are marked and felled manually by the loggers.
Protected area and protective fence
A point that does not pass muster for opponents of the project who wonder “how protected species were able to leave calmly in the face of a huge crusher used on site. »
The other problem raised concerns the installation of protective fence near the Natura 2000 protected area.
“At the start of the work, there was no geotextile net installed in order to prevent species from coming onto the construction site and thus protect them,” says the member of the collective interviewed. In response, Bertrand Comble informs that “barriers cannot necessarily be installed and that it is sometimes necessary clear before they can be put in place, it depends on the sectors concerned.”
Suitable habitat for the European mink
Timing which does not seem to be conducive to the species present in the sector for the members of the anti-LGV collective: “It is an area recognized as a habitat suitable for otter and at European minkbut also for many amphibians. We must protect them. »
In Saint-Médard-d'Eyrans and elsewhere on the route of this project, concern is growing as the project progresses.
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