Fight against cabinization, warning of weather risks… innovative tools at the service of municipalities presented at the Hérault mayors’ fair

The 6th edition of the Hérault town and inter-municipal trade fair was held this Friday, September 27 at the Parc-Expo in Béziers. This event was an opportunity to present innovative solutions, particularly in the fight against illegal construction and monitoring and preventing weather risks to crops. Here's an update.

Houses, cabins, yurts, tents, swimming pools and garden sheds, the services of the Hérault prefecture estimate that 30,000 illegal constructions have been identified over time in agricultural, forestry or risky areas, which are in short unbuildable. “In Hérault, there are more illegal constructions than social housing. The department is experiencing a significant population influx, 15,000 new inhabitants per year, and the poverty rate is pushing some to circumvent the rules to find accommodation,” reports thePrefect of Hérault, François Xavier Lauch.

The DDTM's key figures in the fight against cabinization in 2023

62 municipalities are signatories to the departmental charter to fight against cabinization. 3,412 ha were consumed between 2010 and 2020, or 0.6% of the department's surface area. 65% of constructions are for housing and 22% for activity. 80% of the areas consumed come from agricultural areas. The Hérault department welcomed 141,863 additional inhabitants between 2011 and 2021.

If urban planning falls under the jurisdiction of mayors, municipalities are not always sized to meet this challenge. Faced with this phenomenon, which no longer only affects the coast but also the hinterland, the prefecture wants effective action, before there is a statute of limitations and the constructions are unassailable.

“The faster we act, the sooner the mayor provides an administrative response, the more we avoid the development of illegal constructions. Once built, it is very complicated to demolish and it costs the State services. In the department, we only manage to destroy two properties per year," argues the Prefect of Hérault, who came to attend the presentation of two innovative tools.

Two innovative software programs, Lucca and Aigle, at the service of the municipalities

“We are here to support mayors in identifying illegal constructions, they are on the front line, but they are not alone”. On its stand at the entrance to Hall 1 of the Exhibition Center, the Departmental Directorate of Territories and the Sea (DDTM) presented several tools to combat cabinization.

The first, Aigle, is a software that relies on annual maps, seen from the sky, in order to estimate the situation of the territory. “Instead of going to locate by yourself, following a report, we stay in the office, we prioritize, then we control, explains Benjamin Labail of the DDTM 34, the other innovative software, Lucca, is a very popular legal tool. After a visit, the report is injected into this software, it will be followed and shared by the communities, until it is transmitted to the judicial authority. In addition, and for more details, the State services in the department also use a drone.

The drone will detect several suspicious objects. Screenshot

Agri Predict, a tool to anticipate climatic events

Another innovation, Agri Predict, was presented at the Hérault mayors' fair, in the field of climate risk prevention, for farmers and elected officials.

“A unique and pioneering system in France”, describes Alix Roumagnac, president of Predict, a Montpellier-based company specializing in the assessment and monitoring of weather events. This system, operational since April 2021, is based on the massive collection of agronomic and environmental data that the algorithm processes to provide reliable forecasts and precise recommendations to farmers. “Predict's job is to give an early warning for the safety and property of people in order to anticipate as quickly as possible”, he argues.

SMS and email alerts to farmers and municipalities

With this solution, farmers can not only anticipate climate variations but also make informed decisions on crop management, the use of agricultural inputs (fertilizers, pesticides), and the optimization of resources such as water.

To do this, Predict works in collaboration with local authorities and the Chamber of Agriculture to monitor weather forecast models. When these models identify an imminent climate event, a briefing is organized to assess the situation.

Présentation du dispositif Agripredict par @GuilhemVigroux de la CA34 et @alixroumagnac de @PredictServices💬
Un outil gratuit pour les agriculteurs grâce, entre autres, aux collectivités. 🤝

🎯 Un outil indispensable pour anticiper les aléas climatiques et agir en conséquence. pic.twitter.com/5FIUFDFl4J

— Chambre d'agriculture de l'Hérault (@chambagri34) September 27, 2024

If necessary, a targeted information campaign is launched to farmers via SMS and email to provide them with advice. “The important thing is to be in tune with the development of the plant according to the season and the event, so as not to issue alerts untimely, otherwise it could be counterproductive”, underlines Renaud Lachenal, project manager of the Hérault Chamber of Agriculture.

Making “fairer” decisions

A four-handed lacework between Predict and the Chamber of Agriculture. "Many farmers have told me that this device allows them to make more accurate decisions in relation to different weather information that they could collect on the Internet", he explains.

This tool also convinces the mayors of the department who find it very useful. “It allows me to alert all my elected officials, to tell them to be vigilant and to be ready to move knowing what each person must do”, says Claude Valero, mayor of Paulhan who uses Agri Predict for flooding possibilities.

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