It is a real estate program which, without citizen mobilization, would no doubt have ended up seeing the light of day. This Thursday, the prefecture of Seine-Saint-Denis buried for good the construction project of 1,750 housing units on the old quarries of the West in Gagny.
According to the new development plan for this natural site, currently closed to the public and spanning 14 ha, the northern part should be protected in order to preserve biodiversity. And the southern part will be converted into a landscaped park open to walkers, creating a new green space in this city of nearly 40,000 inhabitants.
Risk of collapse
Operated for its gypsum until 1956, the premises had been acquired in 1992 by the Marto company. A company specializing in deconstruction, which ceased its activities there in 2013. Over time, the quarries – which include many galleries – began to present risks of collapse, threatening the stability of some twenty houses located in above the site on the town of Raincy.
The real estate project presented at the beginning of 2019 was to make it possible to finance the securing of the premises, estimated between 13 and 16 million euros, which would have been supported by the developers.
An ecological reservoir
This was without counting the mobilization of local residents and environmental associations, no doubt more listened to on the eve of the municipal elections. The former were particularly worried about the consequences of the densification of their neighborhood, the latter about seeing a real ecological reservoir sacrificed. The site is home to, among other things, 203 plant species, 19 bird areas and 2 species of protected reptiles.
If the real estate project had been defended by the former city councilor of Gagny, his successor Rolin Cranoly (DVD) announced as soon as he took office, in August 2019, that he wanted to return to it.
“The elected officials have finally changed position thanks to our mobilization, smiles Thierry Carayol, of the ecological association Endema 93. For the moment, given what we are presented to us today, it is a victory, but we will be vigilant, in particular on the work of the section open to the public and on the techniques used to fill the galleries. “
The city will buy the quarries
Last February, the prefecture had already put a first halt to the project by issuing a decree ordering the Marto company to carry out “consolidation work necessary to secure the old quarry”. This will ultimately be the responsibility of the city, which intends to buy the land in 2021.
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“Our municipal council has validated the buyout plan. This seems essential to us to prevent all real estate projects in the future, explains the mayor. The company has certainly not secured the site, but it will sell it to us at the estimated price of the domains. (Editor’s note, State Real Estate Department), or 1.4 million euros. When we know that the owners hoped for 14 million euros, we can consider that they have given their share. “
A first financial aid from the State
The municipality, which will not be able to bear the cost of the work on its own, has already obtained the support of the prefecture of Seine-Saint-Denis as part of the recovery plan put in place by the government. 2.3 million euros will thus be allocated to it in 2021. “And there will surely be another aid in 2022 and in 2023 if that is necessary”, warns Patrick Lapouze, the sub-prefect of Raincy, for whom the plan stimulus really helped speed up the funding process.
Gagny also hopes to be able to benefit from aid of 7.5 million euros from the Barnier Fund (fund for the prevention of major natural hazards). “We have not yet had an answer, so I prefer to be careful”, nuance the mayor.
The latter still not having completed its budget, no date of opening to the public has been communicated for the moment. The security work, once started, should last at least two years.
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