the essential
In the small village of Beaumarchés, to the west of the Gers, residents have organized to oppose a project for an agrivoltaic park of around ten hectares.
Mirannes, Aubiet, Barcelonne-du-Gers… Solar and agrivoltaic park projects are sprouting up in the four corners of the department, not without raising at least questions, sometimes fierce opposition. This is the case in the town of Beaumarchés, a small village in the west of Gers, which has barely ten homes, and a project covering an area of 10 hectares of agrivoltaic park.
After discovering the project, local residents decided to set up a collective, and have now created an association “let's protect the valleys of the Gers”.
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“I protest against this project, here at home, but also against all projects on arable land. There is an incentive to create this type of park on artificialized, fallow land. However, in this case, This is not the case. These may be lands with modest yields, but they have always been cultivable”, maintains Vincent Marty, at the heart of the struggle led by the village's inhabitants.
Unfavorable opinion from the town hall
The project initially obtained the approval of the municipality. Mayor Gérard Castet gave a favorable opinion in principle in 2023 while awaiting a final project. Since the final project was presented, the municipal team has reversed its position and issued an unfavorable opinion.
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“This project posed many problems. We made this decision just before the summer. The CDPENAF (Departmental Commission for the Preservation of Natural, Agricultural and Forestry Areas) also issued an unfavorable opinion, all the commissions took an unfavorable position on this project I think that ultimately it will not happen,” says Mayor Gérard Castet.
But, as in any project of this type, in the end, it is the prefect who decides. The current prefect Laurent Carrié leaves office in a few days, on November 25. “What will be the vision of his successor? We wonder. In all cases, the Gers must be protected, as well as its two engines which are agriculture and tourism”, underlines Vincent Marty.
