In the Thau basin, unity is strength to fight against the phenomenon of cabanisation

Le président de l'Agglo de Sète François Commeinhes, les maires de Vic et Mireval et les agents du Conservatoire du littoral se sont rendus ce mardi 8 octobre sur la parcelle cabanisée en bordure de l'étang de Vic Midi Libre – Patrice Espinasse

Mireval, Vic-la-Gardiole, Marseillan… : Conservatoire du littoral and Agglo de Sète join forces to demolish illegal constructions and renature plots of land with cabins.

A little corner of paradise on the edge of the Vic pond, difficult to access from a path made muddy by the night rains. A protected natural area, classified Natura 2 000. Anything that prohibits housing.

And yet it is here, on a plot of land in Mireval, that a mechanical shovel went into action to destroy what should never have been built at the end of the last century: a house of more than 50 m2 in solid material, with a low wall, a caravan…“The process of cabanisation has developed because the real estate market is not always accessible, explains Florence Dessales, project manager at the Conservatoire du littoral. We have people who cannot afford housing. So, they buy small cabins on the coast, gradually extend them and develop a construction without an urban framework, generating problems of insalubrity, networks, and even danger with submersion.”

Long and complex process

Illegal constructions like these are not isolated. However, they are gradually being demolished and renatured. A long and complex process in which local authorities and the Conservatoire du Littoral have, together, an essential role to play.

The Sète urban area has more than 12,000 hectares of beaches, ponds, wetlands, woods and scrubland, which play a major environmental and economic role. The Conservatoire du Littoral owns 2,465 hectares of natural areas in this territory. “Partnering with local authorities contributes to the removal of cabanas from these natural spaces and their requalification”, confirms Muriel Ribot, deputy delegate at the Conservatoire du littoral.

Preempt to be able to repair

The latter has the advantage of being able to preempt – sometimes, as here in Mireval) or acquire amicably – most often.“If we don't buy it back, the plot is resold to private individuals and the occupation continues, making it unassailable from a regulatory point of view, explains Florence Dessales. Having public control of the land allows us to go back, deconstruct and be part of a renaturation process. As for the partnership with the communities, it allows us to move faster. We are a small team. We have the means to buy the land, but less to manage and renovate it.”

The Agglo de Sète is then there to speed up the process and monitor the renaturation of the plots. The one in Mireval required four days of work to remove asbestos. And another seven to demolish it.

The president of the Agglomeration of Sète François Commeinhes, the mayors of Vic and Mireval and the agents of the Conservatoire du littoral went this Tuesday, October 8, to the plot of land with a shed on the edge of the Etang de Vic Midi Libre – Patrice Espinasse

Decompaction, plowing and botanical monitoring

Behind, the question of restoration will arise.“Should it be connected to the pond ? To the marshes ? Then we will loosen and plow so that the vegetation can take its place again. There will then be a botanical follow-up over 5-6 years to see how the environment is restored,” explains Sandrine Lafont, territorial agent at the Agglo de Sète, manager of the Conservatory plots.

Read also: The mayor of Mireval and the fight against cabinization: “Believe me, it's work!”

This win-win partnership should gradually make it possible to obtain tangible results in terms of ecological restoration and the fight against cabinization. But it will take a lot of time and energy to overcome a phenomenon that is moving, affecting today in particular Poussan and Montbazin, on the Thau basin and, beyond, many communes in the hinterland.

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