The public rapporteur, an independent magistrate whose opinions must inform the administrative courts, is in favor of canceling the authorization for the A69 motorway construction site, in conclusions sent to the parties on Wednesday November 20, with a view to a hearing on the merits before the administrative court of Toulouse on Monday.
According to the collective of opponents of the La Voie est libre (LVEL) motorway project, the public rapporteur is in particular in favor of a total cancellation of the decree of 1is March 2023 authorizing the A69 motorway link, in conclusions the meaning of which he made known to the parties before the hearing, as authorized by the administrative justice code.
According to its supporters, the future A69, a 53-kilometer section of motorway between Toulouse and Castres, aims to open up the south of Tarn. Its construction is supported by a number of local elected officials and the president of the Occitanie region, Carole Delga (Socialist Party). Environmental movements denounce the destruction of wetlands, agricultural land, trees, ecosystems and groundwater, on the grounds that the current national road, according to them, is far from saturated. For several months, the construction site has been the subject of heated protests and clashes have taken place between opponents and the police.
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“A first round”
Alice Terrasse, the lawyer for the LVEL collective, confirmed to Agence France-Presse (AFP) the content of the rapporteur's conclusions, made accessible to the parties on the Sagace Internet platform for monitoring cases before administrative justice. According to Mme Terrace, the rapporteur contests “the existence of a compelling reason of major public interest justifying the construction site” of this highway.
Contacted by AFP, Atosca, future motorway concessionaire, currently in charge of the site, neither refuted nor confirmed the meaning of the public rapporteur's conclusions, simply declaring: “Atosca’s councils take note [de ses] conclusions and will speak before the administrative court at the hearing on November 25 to present their arguments in this case. »
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According to Christine Arrighi, environmentalist deputy for Haute-Garonne and former president of the parliamentary commission of inquiry into the legal and financial arrangement of the A69 project, the rapporteur's opinion is “extremely positive in the direction of our fight” against the highway. “It’s not a victory, it’s a first round”she clarified, however, because the court is not bound by the conclusions of the rapporteur. Despite everything, according to the LVEL collective, “environmental associations hope that this impartial legal expertise will result in an equally informed decision from the court”.
On Monday, the Toulouse administrative court will examine four appeals on the merits against the motorway project, two of which are requests presented by France Nature Environnement for the annulment of prefectural decrees authorizing the A69 and A680 motorway links (link between the current motorway A68 and the future A69).
