Opponents of the A69 turned out in large numbers on Monday, November 25, to attend the last hearing in their fight against the fifty-three kilometer motorway service that will link Toulouse with Castres, the works of which are already well advanced. About fifty of them were present in court, and three times as many outside, encouraged by the conclusions of the public rapporteur of this jurisdiction, Mona Rousseau, known since their transmission on Wednesday, November 20 to the interested parties: State, concessionaire and opponents. . “I am quite confident and I think we are heading towards a possible victory”expected Gilles Garric, a member of the collective La Voie est Libre, who had managed to sit in the front row.
The magistrate, whose ruling is followed in most cases, but not always, recommends the cancellation of the work authorization, for lack of compelling reasons of great public interest (RIPPM). However, this reason justifies the exemption that authorizes the destruction of protected species, granted to the concessionaire Atosca in March 2023.
“The compelling reason is the first condition that must be met to obtain an exemption from the prohibition of harming protected species and their habitats. However, the environmental authorization that was granted to Atosca in March 2023 includes an exemption and, therefore, you must prove this compelling reason. If there is no reason, the building will fall.”M explained.my Alice Terrasse, lawyer for the fourteen co-applicant associations (Les Amis de la Terre Midi-Pyrénées, France Nature Environnement, Attac, National Tree Surveillance Group, etc.), which submitted the application to the administrative court of Toulouse on June 23 of 2023. .
Controversial arguments
To obtain it, the concessionaire had put forward several arguments in favor of the construction of the motorway: the economic development of the Castres-Mazamet employment area, a saving in travel time of about twenty minutes to reach Toulouse and the reduction of the risk of accidents. avoiding crossing villages and towns along the RN126, this already existing national road that connects Toulouse and Castres in more than an hour.
“These arguments struggle to convince us, Mona Rousseau said to the audience. It has not been determined that there is an overriding reason of general public interest, since Castres does not have an increase in its demographic growth and the job creation rate is higher than the national average. »
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