About fifty activists of the véloruption, movement which promotes the bicycle as a means of transport, demonstrated this Saturday, October 3 in front of the airport of Caen-Carpiquet. They denounce the plan to extend the runway and the pollution caused by air traffic.
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Leaving the Maison du Vélo in Caen at the start of the afternoon, pro-cycling activists and defenders of the planet joined Caen-Carpiquet airport on their two wheels, displaying their sign “car, plane = pollution. Detoxify ourselves with velorution“.
The fifty activists, who chanted slogans “plane or climate, you have to choose“, denounced the announced extension of the airport runway.
Protesters want to promote greener transport, such as cycling or trains.
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© Gwenaelle Louis
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The project led by Caen la mer with the support of the Calvados department and the Normandy Region foresees that it will go from 1,900 to 2,250m in order to accommodate larger planes in safe conditions and thus boost attendance at the site. Cost of the operation: 11 million euros.
“We are always told that there is a safety issue on this trail. However, in London, one of the airports has the same runway with the same length as Caen Carpiquet. And we’ve never heard of the fact that there are accidents. While the number of planes that take off and land there is much greater than in Carpiquet. So, you have to see things straight in the face and well objectively“believes Christian Delabie, co-president of the Association against the extension of the Caen-Carpiquet airport.
“A harmful and unnecessary project”
By demonstrating against the project to extend the runway, the activists gathered this Saturday in Caen-Carpiquet want to protest more widely against air traffic. And hope to promote greener modes of transport, in the current health context.
“The opportunity is given to us to change our modes of travel. The extension of the runway at Caen-Carpiquet airport is, for us, a harmful and unnecessary project. We are campaigning to move differently. Either by bike or by train“explains Véronique, from Alternatiba Caen, citizen movement for the climate and social justice.
The public inquiry for the lengthening of the airport runway was scheduled for March and then in the spring, but it still has not started.
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