“We live in scorching days, and everyone sees the usefulness of an old tree in town: it brings a lot of shade and it avoids even higher temperatures”, shows Alain Couteau, resident of the square. Domrémy in Orléans (Loiret), in the Saint-Marceau district, a place that the city will redevelop in the last quarter. However, this development site plans to cut down the nine lime trees that adorn the square. The oldest were planted in 1903.
Last winter, future work was presented at a public meeting. “The municipal services tell us that the trees are sick, therefore dangerous, and that it is preferable to cut them down in order to replace them with maple trees. Admittedly, three of them had trunks damaged by cars, but they are holy. They can easily be saved. They are there and they have withstood other heat waves while the oak trees recently planted along the former National 20 are withering away”, compares Alain Couteau, nurseryman in Saint-Denis-en-Val, who took the head of the community of residents.
Cars also park under the trees
This tree lover posted a petition on the website change.org, which collected nearly 500 signatures. He has just sent a letter to the mayor (LR) of Orléans Serge Grouard to modify the project. “The tree has no political color, it just has a right to live in the city,” insists Alain Couteau, recalling that the Johannine city adopted a tree charter in 2006. “ It would be good for the municipality to apply the principles it has itself enacted. This city that we all love cannot only be mineral,” he says.
The fight of the residents of Saint-Marceau finds an echo among the defenders of the bicycle. Surrounded by a church, offices, and three schools, the square is a few tens of meters from a tram station which allows you to reach the city center quickly. The cars line up under the trees. “It is the result of illegal parking tolerated, and not at all sanctioned. Motorists climb on the sidewalks and seek shade,” notes a cyclist who regularly crosses the neighborhood.
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