Par
Solène Lavenu
Published on
Dec 2 2024 at 6:47 a.m.
See my news
Follow La Presse de la Manche
December 20, 1974. The municipal council of Flamanville (Manche) meets. On the agenda:potential installation of a nuclear power plant. It could be built here, but the site is not yet clearly defined.
Since 1970, the government Jacques Chaban-Delmas of the president Georges Pompidou presented his French nuclear development program. The site of Flamanville is among the possible locations of a nuclear electricity production center.
Four years later, he could therefore be one of the favorites. The residents learned about it in November, when they opened their newspaper, like their Haguais neighbors ten years earlier (read opposite).
Gatteville a dit non!
In November 1974, it was while opening the local newspaper that the people of Flamanville discovered a map of France with the municipalities expected to host a nuclear power plant. Their town is one of them. Nothing is final. Other Normandy or Breton localities also appear on this map. In Plogoff (Côtes d'Armor) and Manvieux (Calvados), the opposition is direct. Same result in Gatteville: the town of Val de Saire and its lighthouse immediately showed resistance, “fear of the unknown” perhaps. Flamanville, with this first municipal council which was held a month later, affirmed itself in favor of the project.
11 votes for, 1 against
But in Flamanville, the debates are made stormy and the exchanges are tense between people in favor of the project, often workers, traders and those who are against it, the first ecologists in France.
The twelve elected officials of the municipal council must therefore decide on this day in December 1974. Are they in favor of the principle of installing a nuclear power plant? The yes wins by knockout: eleven advisors give a favorable opinion, one against.
“This choice has considerably changed the landscape of the municipality”
“The choice of the Flamanvillais 50 years ago considerably modified the landscape of the commune, and made it possible, still today and for years to come, to create a economic activity and relative wealth of the municipality and the territory. We must measure all of this at its fair value,” comments Patrick Fauchon, mayor of Flamanville from 1983 to 2023, today.
He did not experience all these passionate debates. “I arrived in the town in 1977, the project was already completed,” he says. But he remembers that the mayor at the time, Henri Varin, who had been marked by this period. “A coffin has been placed in front of his door! » underlines Claude Gatignol, former departmental councilor for Manche (1979-2004).
The struggle between the two camps was heated. Residents of the town, Didier and Paulette Anger took the lead in the fight against the establishment of the nuclear power plant, and first gatherings were organized. “My first anti-nuclear demonstration was in Flamanville, in 1976,” recalls Yannick Rousselet, local Greenpeace figure.
The town only regained its calm at the beginning of the 80s. While in place, Patrick Fauchon will have had to manage other problems, such as that of the high voltage lines which come out of the power station or the financial windfalls linked to this production .
Flamanville, a working-class land
50 years ago, therefore, the municipal council designed the future of Flamanville and Cotentin. But the context was so different then. “The town has always had a somewhat atypical situation,” recalls Patrick Fauchon. First of all, because of or thanks to its iron mine.
This brought a certain financial ease, Flamanville was then more populated than the commune of Les Pieux for example, and living in the Sainte-Barbe city of Flamanville, known as the “city of Corons”, offered living conditions that were very appreciated and sometimes even envied.
But the iron mine and its economic benefits ceased in 1962. “Many workers then left to support their families, there was no local support. In Flamanville, unlike the surrounding population, the population was more worker than agricultural,” says Patrick Fauchon.
So the arrival of industry, whether nuclear or not, seemed to many to be good news. The choice of money some will say. The choice of dynamism and life will say others. Difficult to judge retrospectively. But all the Flamanville residents then had to give up their cliffs. “It’s a sacrifice that only those who have experienced it can appreciate,” notes Patrick Fauchon. And that the mayor at the time had chosen not to impose on his population.
A referendum to ratify the decision
While the prefecture had refused it, Henri Varin chose to organize a referendum to ask the Flamanvillians their position. Thus, on April 7, 1975, the population chose, 63.7%, to say “yes” to the central office (693 voters for 848 registered, 435 votes for, 248 against and 10 invalid ballots).
The beginning of a extraordinary industrial history. A story which profoundly changed the town, its cliffs, and which is part of the history of France.
The project had a national interest, which went far beyond the interests of the municipality alone.
Follow all the news from your favorite cities and media by subscribing to Mon Actu.
Related News :