In the Basque Country, the Landes de Juzan forest could disappear because of the development of the Arkinova technopolitan site, which would involve reducing classified wooded areas. A petition is circulating to prevent this project from seeing the light of day.
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John Cittone
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Le Figaro Bordeaux
Destroying a forest to install a site dedicated to sustainable construction, this is what the Arkinova development project involves, on the town of Anglet (Pyrenees-Atlantiques). An aberration, according to many residents of the Landes de Juzan forest. In two weeks, an online petition asking for the preservation of wood and market gardening areas collected more than 7,000 signatures.
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The project of “site technopolitain Arkinova» is carried by the urban community of the Basque Country (CAPB). It aims to “create a land offer dedicated to hosting companies specializing in sustainable construction trades», in the form of a concerted development zone (ZAC), on the site of the Landes de Juzan forest. In the prior consultation file, it is specified that “the heart of the site is one of the few large undeveloped sectors within the urban area of Bayonne-Anglet-Biarritz“, and therefore constitutes “a very strategic land deposit“. But the residents and the last market gardeners of Anglet do not see things in the same way.
«We think that it is not necessary to put four hectares of buildings in a forest and that we can possibly make a different distribution on the 22 hectares that are in question“, explains Jean Vidal, secretary of the association Anglet Patrimoines, which aims to “defend the environment and the quality of lifein the town. Far from being in opposition in principle, Jean Vidal specifies that the organization “analyzed the consultation file and disseminated this analysis to members of the association and to citizens».
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“Reduce certain classified wooded areas”
It was during a visit organized by Anglet Patrimoines that several Angloys discovered the wooded area targeted by the Arkinova project. “This allowed the inhabitants of the region to discover the forest of Juzan and the impact of the project on the places that we had before our eyes.“says Lalie, member of a citizen collective of residents and inhabitants of the Basque Country. “To complete this work of information, we did the petition and launched Instagram and Facebook accountsto reach a wider audience. For Lalie,sustainable construction is an important and necessary subject for building the cities of tomorrow, but what we are questioning is doing it on market gardening and forest land“. According to her, “heavily waterproofed spaces could be used for this projectrather than the wooded and therefore permeable areas of this Anglo forest.
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Although the project provides that “two-thirds of the surface area of the ZAC will be preserved from any waterproofing“, it is recalled that “downstream urbanized areas are already experiencing overflows from stormwater networks“. However, wooded areas act as a sponge in the event of heavy rains. Although “the objective remains to make an exemplary zone in terms of travel“, the project also provides for the construction of car parks as well as “additional parking“. Finally, in the request for compatibility of the local urban plan (PLU), the consultation project specifies the need “to reduce certain classified wooded areas“. It is therefore a question of removing the legal lock of the PLU, to cut down trees hitherto protected. In all, the project foreseesto accommodate a constructability of 105,000 m2 of floor area“, for a cost estimated for the moment at almost 1.5 million euros.
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“If we take away their land, we take away their life”
Since the promulgation of the Climate and Resilience Law in 2021, the concreting of land has however been more strictly regulated, with the objective of “zero net land takeby 2050. The State also recalls that the artificialization of soil amplifies the risk of flooding, accentuates loss of biodiversityparticipates to climate changepollutes, strengthens urban heat islands and reduces the nourishing capacity of agricultural land.
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Because the future ZAC does not only house a wooded area, it is within this perimeter that the oldest market gardeners of Anglet still in activity, Jean-Guy and Mauricette Dulau, work. The two spouses have been operating the Juzan farm since the 1960s and sell their products on the Bayonne market. “My father will be 92 in June“says Patrick Dulau, the son of these faithful workers of the land. “Despite their age, they are still farmers, this farm is their life. They have spent their whole life on it, they are very attached to it. If we take away their land, we take away their lives.For several years, these historic farmers have been threatened with expropriation for the implementation of this project, but have always refused to give in.
Sensitive to the question, the mayor of the town, Claude Olive (Les Républicains), is also critical of the current project. The chosen “shares the concerns of the thousands of mobilized citizens and associations» and wants the site to be reworked, «so that it does not touch the wetlands and the forest“. Until April 20, a public consultation is organised, allowing citizens to express themselves on the subject. A public meeting will then take place, followed by a public inquiry phase. “If the project is still not aborted, we will come and mobilize for the public inquiry“says Lalie already.
