Prom'Haies is concerned about the impact of the deployment of optical fiber on hedges

Here we are back in the 70s when the telephone arrived in the villages of Deux-Sévriensquips Daniel Barillot. The president of the Prom'Haies association in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, based in Montalembert, is concerned about the unexpected consequences of the deployment of fiber in rural areas. A deployment planned to be completed at the end of 2025: all Deux-Sévriens will then have access to very high digital speed.

In an open letter that he addressed to the president of the Deux-Sèvres Department, Coralie Dénoues, and to the strong arm of the community in this area, the Deux-Sèvres digital open mixed union, Daniel Barillot regrets that we have chosen to transport the fiber by planting poles along the roads rather than using existing buried conduits.

A step backwards, he deplores, compared to a time, in the 1990s, when we decided to bury the overhead wires as much as possible, which were unsightly and likely to break in the event of a gust of wind.

Prom'Haies' concern: we sometimes chose to plant the posts on the side of the road bordered by hedges, as is the case on route 14 between Melle and Lezay. Daniel Barillot sees the door open to a possible future eradication of the green wall.

“To the detriment of nature”

“How can we not learn the lessons of History? Every day, many of us, citizens and elected officials, notice that hedges are disappearing: 25,000 kilometers per year in France […] And what do we see? That the deployment of very high speed digital broadband in the countryside will condemn many more kilometers of hedges. Why must technical progress always come at the expense of nature? “, Daniel Barillot is alarmed.

Created in 1989, the association has become a regional reference in the fight for the resurrection of hedges. In 2024-2025 under his leadership, 90 kilometers of hedges were planted in Poitou.