Tires, plastic waste, gas bottles, refrigerators, sofas, bicycles, etc…. a regional land reserve transformed into a giant dump on the edge of the A9 in Poussan

Tires, plastic waste, gas bottles, refrigerators, sofas, bicycles, etc.... a regional land reserve transformed into a giant dump on the edge of the A9 in Poussan

The pile of waste continues to grow on this land in La Plaine à Poussan belonging to the Region. Midi Libre – Hélène Amiraux

Tires, plastic waste, gas bottles, refrigerators, sofas, bicycles, etc.... a regional land reserve transformed into a giant dump on the edge of the A9 in Poussan

Fridges and freezers seem to have been abandoned on this land in La Plaine in Poussan for a long time. – Hélène Amiraux

Tires, plastic waste, gas bottles, refrigerators, sofas, bicycles, etc.... a regional land reserve transformed into a giant dump on the edge of the A9 in Poussan

An exercise bike and an old generator are slowly deteriorating on this land classified as a natural area. Midi Libre – Hélène Amiraux

Tires, plastic waste, gas bottles, refrigerators, sofas, bicycles, etc.... a regional land reserve transformed into a giant dump on the edge of the A9 in Poussan

Under the dumped green waste, we also find furniture like these old sofas and armchairs. – Hélène Amiraux

Tires, plastic waste, gas bottles, refrigerators, sofas, bicycles, etc.... a regional land reserve transformed into a giant dump on the edge of the A9 in Poussan

Gas bottles are lying on the ground. Waste that cannot legally be abandoned in the wilderness. Midi Libre – Hélène Amiraux

Tires, plastic waste, gas bottles, refrigerators, sofas, bicycles, etc.... a regional land reserve transformed into a giant dump on the edge of the A9 in Poussan

The land classified as a natural and forest area regularly receives tire deposits. Midi Libre – Hélène Amiraux

Tires, plastic waste, gas bottles, refrigerators, sofas, bicycles, etc.... a regional land reserve transformed into a giant dump on the edge of the A9 in Poussan

One of the plots belonging to the Region in the Plaine area is regularly squatted. Midi Libre – Hélène Amiraux

Tires, plastic waste, gas bottles, refrigerators, sofas, bicycles, etc.... a regional land reserve transformed into a giant dump on the edge of the A9 in Poussan

Sur la zone naturelle de la Plaine, sur un terrain de la Région, on découvre cette construction de cuisine d'extérieur illégale, qui a été récemment squattée.. Midi Libre – Hélène Amiraux

Along the A9, residents of Poussan have been warning in vain since 2021 about an open-air dump.  

The Plaine area in Poussan is a charming little corner of scrubland, close to the Vène stream, close to Issanka, from where the view of the Moure hills delights residents every day. But this little piece of hinterland is no longer only disturbed by the distant hullabaloo of the A9 which passes a few hundred meters from the first houses. “When we moved into our house three years ago, we discovered an illegal dump on a plot of land just across the street. And since then, the pile of rubbish has only grown, it is now 1.40 m high. There is everything from furniture, tyres, fridges, gas bottles…”, laments Kévin, who lives 20 m away. This Tuesday, October 1st, he takes us to the edge of the plot of land in question.

Sofas, fridges, gas bottles…

On a huge pile of brushwood and green waste, all sorts of plastic objects have recently been thrown, polystyrene, tarpaulins, pieces of desks, an exercise bike, a generator, refrigerators, a sofa, but also rubble and other construction materials. There are all the signs of a regularly and illegally supplied fly-tipping operation. An illegal activity that seems to be encouraged by the easy access by the small dirt roads that crisscross the area. < br/> On another plot of land behind Kevin's property, there is a ruined caravan, which seems to have been ransacked, attached to a wooden cabin in the same state, which blocks the horizon from his garden. The ground is littered with kilos of old clothes and leftover plastic waste. “The place was squatted during the summer of 2022. They had even installed a swimming pool, a barbecue. And then they left and it's been like that ever since!”, laments Kevin. 

“We are right next to the A9, like the fire in Gigean. It worries us”

The couple of local residents, worried about the risks, had taken the trouble, as soon as they moved in in 2021, to report this pollution to the municipal police of Poussan. “We were told that it was private land and that nothing could be done”, he recalls. The officers forwarded the file to the Territorial Brigade of the Agglopôle, which is responsible for this matter. In 2023, a rural guard came to see it with supporting photos. “He told us that the plots in question belonged to the Region…” These lands, located between the D 613 and the A9, acquired in bulk (26.5 ha) in the 2010s were intended to accommodate a rear storage base for the development of the port. But the Hinterland project has since been at a standstill, due to a lack of authorization from the State services. 
Still without a response, and while the dump continues to grow, Kévin decided last June to contact the Region, the owner, directly. "We have already had several fires in the area, recalls this local resident. And then we are right next to the A9, like the fire that broke out in August in Gigean. It worries us, that's why we raised the alarm. But now it's affected our morale”. The Poussan town hall is also notified. In an email dated September, the community responds that it has notified the owner, who must file a complaint in the event of illegal dumping.

Sandrine Sanchez, Mayor of Poussan: “We don't have to replace ourselves”

“When the land is private, we send the municipal police who make a report. We also contact the territorial brigade of Sète Agglopôle who do the same. The owner is also notified, it is then up to him to file a complaint for illegal dumping. Our job ends there”, reminds Sandrine Sanchez, Mayor of Poussan.

In this case, “we have been alerting the Region about the situation for a while now. The Plain is completely cabinized, illegal dumping has been piling up for years. We only warn, she said. Ms. Sanchez believes that it is not up to the municipality to intervene, despite the risks associated in particular with fires, and explains: “I don't have to replace the owner to go and clean up fly-tipping. It's up to the owner to file a complaint. It's a daily struggle, in terms of pollution it's terrible. I already have an agent who goes around the city every day to manage public space. It's not up to our agents to do this work on private land. The Region has obligations on its land.” The town hall has sent several letters to the regional authority in recent days.

As for the Agglo Territorial Brigade, which also reported illegal dumping to the Region last June on private land classified as a natural and forest area, a few meters from the Vène stream, it did not go any further. This environmental police force has the power to issue fines with a view to a criminal fine of up to €1,500. But in this case, it would be tied hand and foot: “We are at the end of the system, explains the communications department. The Agglo intervenes for the removal of waste only on natural areas that belong to it or are managed by it. This is private land. We cannot file a complaint even if there is imminent danger”, summarizes the intercommunality which shifts the responsibility to the owner.

No complaint, nor legal proceedings in progress initiated by the owner Region

Although local residents have tried to raise the alarm since 2021 regarding illegal and potentially dangerous dumping on land belonging to the Region in the Plaine area along the A9, the local authority in question indicates that it was informed only last June. “Following the alert (by local residents, Editor's note) of illegal illegal dumping on these two plots, the Region went to the site to note the dumping and have the plots cleaned. This area has been subject to a phenomenon of cabanisation for years, which is a police duty whose prerogatives fall to the State", explains the Region's communications department.

Quotes are reportedly being prepared (several thousand euros according to our sources) to carry out these operations, although their deadlines are not known. She confirms that there are currently no legal steps to stop these deposits. “The only solution would be to catch the perpetrators red-handed”, specifies the same department when asked about the possibility of any action with the gendarmerie services. As for protecting these plots from intrusions by fencing, “they are ineffective and do not prevent the phenomenon”, assures the owner. The two plots concerned were « acquired by the Region to constitute a land reserve", indicates the latter, as part of a storage base project for the port which is now abandoned.

The Region owns 26.5 ha in the Plaine area. In 2022, it signed an agreement with Safer to put 16.5 ha into operation, entrusted to a farmer.

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