Very high voltage line project in Gard: “It should not get out of hand…”

Dans le Gard, on refuse d’être “la prise électrique” des Bouches-du-Rhône. Midi Libre – C.M.

The investigating commissioner has just submitted his summary report following the preliminary consultation around this very high voltage line project between Jonquières-Saint-Vincent and Fos-sur-Mer. In Gard, the protest movement is not weakening.

This is a project that continues to generate a lot of ink. The new 400,000 volt overhead line linking Jonquières-Saint-Vincent to the industrial site of Fos-sur-Mer has at least one merit: that of creating a political union against it.

A political union

From the left of Juan Martinez, president of the Beaucaire Terre d’Argence community of communes to the extreme right RN of Julien Sanchez, mayor of Beaucaire (and future European deputy  ?), all agree to refuse that the Gard be used as an "electrical outlet" in Bouches-du-Rhône. And takes all the inconveniences linked to the installation of 125 pylons 60 meters high on a 40 km route, without gaining much benefit…hellip;

"It’s quite good and quite normal that we have unanimity, both at the level of economic, tourism, agricultural and political actors and citizens, estimates Juan Martinez, also mayor of Bellegarde. At a minimum, the State must listen to what we have to say. This is not correct and not fair what is happening." Because the summary of the investigating commissioner which has just been published leaves little room for doubt about the progress of this very high voltage (THT) line. Which, despite the horns and cries coming from Gard, leaves the prefect of the Paca region inflexible. Christophe Mirmand thus recently indicating to our colleagues from La Tribune, & quot;hearing these oppositions", but remaining "convinced of the necessity of this project".

"The company remained deaf to the arguments"

"We don't hold a consultation just to say that we listened to people and then say goodbye, it's over", plague Juan Martinez. Indeed, the 1,000 contributions and more which came to fuel a prior consultation called “fontaine”, will have led the investigating commissioner to recognize that he… hellip; could not transcribe all the oppositions. Enough to allow RTE, manager of the electricity transmission network, maneuvering to build this THT, to rush into the open breach with its report on the "Lessons and measures taken following the Prior Consultation" : "The company has remained deaf to the arguments and requests to adapt the project to reduce its multiple negative impacts and has not made any improvement to its initial proposal", regrets the Association for the Protection of the Land of Argentina (Asta).

"Unsurprisingly, everything is going well in the best of all possible worlds for them and the choices are the right ones, outbids Juan Martinez. We rule out any different technical solution because it is too expensive, or because it is supposedly impossible, even if it has been done elsewhere. They tell us, ultimately, that Gard is positively impacted since we have 1,200 employees working in the Fos-Berre area, 3,200 for the Pays d’Arles. It would legitimize our territory to take on the inconveniences and for the Fos-berre area to recover the tax component and all the resources due to this reindustrialization!"

"It shouldn't get out of hand"

For Asta, as for the elected officials of Gard, "the State and RTE are clearly not up to the task of issues and the consultation having not produced the expected effects, the associations and citizens opposed to the project will now have to consider what means can be implemented to get the State and RTE to change course. quot;.

While a new gathering is planned for the beginning of June (*), Carole Delga joins the concert of protests: the president of the Occitanie Region has sent a letter to the prefect of the Paca Region and to RTE, marking its "opposition and incomprehension" on this matter. "I also told the prefect of Gard(who, according to our information, should speak soon with his counterpart on this subject, Editor's note) that, even if he was not primarily concerned, he risked him also to receive the inconveniences without having control of the file, given that the definition of the zone of least impact will be decided in June by the prefect of the Paca Region, announcement Juan Martinez, who does not underestimates the citizen reaction: "We will have to deal with frank and honest opposition from all the actors in the Gard region. Because we are going to be sacrificed on the altar of the reindustrialization of Fos-Berre and it should not get out of hand. We see it in New Caledonia, by not listening to the people…"

(*) A rally against the THT line project will be organized on Wednesday June 5, from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., at the Belvédère du Mas Mourgues du Grès (1055 Chemin Mourgues du Grès) in Beaucaire. I subscribe to read more