Tarn / Environment
Wind turbines in the Tarn: a favorable field but opposition to various projects
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The Tarn is the third department of Occitanie in terms of wind energy production. But the installation of new wind turbines is subject to many constraints including opposition from elected officials and residents. In our edition of December 10, 2021, the Tarn libre presented the state of play of wind power development in the Tarn department.
The multiannual energy programs (PPE), tools for steering energy policy at the national level, establish in particular the objectives in terms of renewable energy production. To meet the objectives of the law on energy transition for green growth (38% renewable energies in final heat consumption in 2030), all renewable energy sources, including wind power, must be mobilized. The Government therefore asked the regional prefects, last May, to draw up a map of areas favorable to the development of onshore wind power. In Occitania, a consultation is organized and for this, the DREAL carried out a “briefing” on the development of regional wind power with inventory, challenges and constraints. It is this document which was presented to the elected officials of Tarn on November 30 at the Ecole des Mines in Albi. Our department now has 21 authorized wind farms for 145 wind turbines in the long term (some projects are not yet in service). The development of wind power has focused heavily on the Monts de Lacaune and the Montagne Noire, where the winds are most favorable.
Map of wind power in operation and authorized in the Tarn department
In green, the park in operation on September 30 and in yellow, the park authorized but not in operation).
Sources: IGN IGN Protocol / DREAL Occitanie Ministry – Energy Knowledge Department – September 2021
Elsewhere in the department, the installation of wind turbines is not possible for several reasons: on the one hand because the wind farm is not sufficient and on the other hand because of administrative constraints. The map (presented above) shows in black these areas where installation is not favorable. The prefect of Tarn, in her introduction, recalled that the work of DREAL was not “opposable” to projects and that they constituted “decision aids”. But the paving stones were already thrown into the pond.
“It’s a concrete premium”
The presentation that followed provoked many reactions against the installation of new wind turbines. In the front line, elected officials from the south of the department, largely concerned by the “favorable areas” identified. Olivier Fabre, the mayor of Mazamet, denounced “a concrete premium” rebelling against the idea that the development of wind power can save space. “When I see this mapping, I say to myself, that’s it, it’s for us! “Wondered the mayor of Mazamet who asks that the massif of the Montagne Noire be considered” as a whole “with the wind turbines already installed in the Aude and arguing to explain that there is” saturation of the massif ” . Pascal Bugis, mayor of Castres and president of the community of municipalities Castres-Mazamet has hit the nail on the head. “I do not accept the signs created in the south of the Tarn for new projects. We let believe in the territory, there are only sheep and wind. A number of us will speak out vehemently against wind power projects. “
Map of prohibitive sectors
The dark gray areas are the areas where the installation of the wind turbine is considered prohibitive.
Sources: IGN IGN Protocol / DREAL Occitanie Ministry – Energy Knowledge Department – September 2021
The Haut Languedoc regional natural park is the first concerned. It is on its territory that the majority of Tarn wind turbines are installed. However, the charter which governs the fleet sets the maximum number of wind turbines at 300. “There are now 271, and soon 283. Other projects are currently under review” said its president Daniel Vialelle who announced that a questioning of this threshold of 300 wind turbines was not not foreseen in the upcoming renewal of the park guidance document. It will therefore be necessary to find elsewhere but the many oppositions which are expressed, among the inhabitants too, may well make the new installations difficult.
Map of projects in preparation
In blue, projects under investigation.
Sources: IGN IGN Protocol / DREAL Occitanie Ministry – Energy Knowledge Department – September 2021
In Margnès, wind power manufacturers will have to compensate the victims
Christel and Luc Fockert had taken legal action to recognize the neighborhood and health disturbances following the installation of 6 wind turbines in the town of Margnès. They had been forced to leave their home as a result of
insomnia, discomfort and tinnitus? First rejected by the court of Castres in 2019, this decision was invalidated on appeal by the judges of the Toulouse court of appeal last July. The wind industry will have to pay the sum of 109,366 € for any damage suffered by the couple. A decision that should now weigh in many installation projects …
A wind project in Lombers?
In an open letter addressed to the press, the association “LLPP- Lamilliarié, Lombers, Poulan Pouzols” is worried about a wind project which would be “thought” on agricultural land. “Concerns and anger, here is the atmosphere that has tinted the conversations of the inhabitants of the municipalities of Lombers, Lamillarié and Poulan-Pouzols for several weeks. Four giant industrial wind turbines, 150m high minimum, are projected on the edge of the small stream of Agros “Explains the association in its letter. “ Thoughts on the commune of Lombers, these giants would directly impact the village of Poulan Pouzols, bordering the area concerned, but also many hamlets in the surrounding villages ” adds the LLPP association, which has organized itself to inform the entire population of the existence of this project.
According to its members, “significant nuisance in everyday life, destruction of the living environment, impacts on health and well-being, on local biodiversity would be their future, if the project were to see the light of day. “
The association asks several questions in particular:
« What do the elected officials of Lombers really want? A welcoming territory, enhancing its heritage, its identity and its agriculture, wishing to develop local solidarity, welcome new families and thus guarantee that rural areas live? Or do they want to see the sustainable division of the population, the harmful effects on health and everyday life (noise, light, etc.), the devaluation of land, the destruction of the attractiveness of the territory and its development? “
LLPP Preservons notre environnement also indirectly calls out to the owners of the land concerned. ” HaveAre they aware of the extent of the repercussions and consequences of this project for their neighbors, but also on their own lives? “.
The members and sympathizers of the association “LLPP- Lamilliarié, Lombers, Poulan Pouzols – Preserve our environment” are convinced that the industrial wind turbine “Does not present any major public or general interest specifically for our territory, but on the other hand it represents a significant impact of social, economic and environmental degradation for this territory. “ The association fears in particular “A situation of deep social division between neighbors, elected officials and citizens” and find that “After the installation of wind turbines, tension reports, in many cases in France, persist over time, to the dismay of certain elected officials who had not understood the social issue. “ Members also believe that for wind power installers “ the search for land and financial opportunities prevails over that of windy areas, aiming just for an extremely profitable investment. “
“NNPP Preserving our environment” does not deny the importance of energy transition issues. “But these inhabitants have the right to choose what they want in their daily lives and to reject projects that are incompatible with the local environment and the well-being of the populations. The elected representatives of these villages have the responsibility and the duty to defend their municipality, their territory and their inhabitants. “
In its open letter, the association asks the elected officials of Lombers and the owners of the land concerned to refuse the installer’s project and invites all the inhabitants of the villages concerned and surrounding villages to join and support the cause of the association to also indicate their refusal of this project. The association organized a public meeting on Friday December 10 in Poulan-Pouzols. At the end of November, on the occasion of the presentation of the DREAL studies on the wind power potential of the department, the prefect of Tarn, questioned by an elected official from Lombers, said that she was not aware of a project on the territory of the common, no file having been submitted by a wind turbine index to date.
More information to come.
Alexandre Renault
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