The construction of this photovoltaic power plant in the heart of the Causses du Quercy regional natural park arouses doubts and fears from certain residents.
by Audrey Sommazi (Tour-de-de Faure (lot), special envoy)
“Mount 7,000 trees by tearing them off on an area frequented by hikers, people on horseback or donkey back, hinds and wild boars makes me sick,” said Marie Cordé Levy. The total construction of a solar park on the place called Le Carteyrou, north of Tour-de-Faure, a Lotois village of 400 inhabitants located between the Lot and Celle valleys, is not to the taste of this teacher from English to retirement. Furious, she founded the Lot-Célé environmental collective to protest against the installation of this photovoltaic plant of 44,300 panels, which will extend over an area of 19.15 hectares divided into three fenced zones and on which dry lawn, cedars Atlas, black pines of Austria and oaks have taken root. Connected to the national electricity network, located in Cajarc, by 18 kilometers of buried lines in the ground, it will produce 23,625 megawattheures (MWH) of electricity per year.
“A huge wart”
The public inquiry was carried out from August 31 to October 15, and it now belongs to Mireille Larrède, the prefect of the department, to decide on this project. The work could start from 2023. And the commissioning would be scheduled for 2025. “It is a delightful and magical place, a spot from which we have a beautiful view of the countryside. I go all the time with my little ones -Enfants “, continues, with regret, Marie Cordé Levy, who launched a petition for the abandonment of the project, which collected more than 650 signatures .
Antoine Drion is also refractory to the project. This Franco-Irlandais installed in the neighboring town of Saint-Martin-Labouval, located 650 meters as the crow flies from the future photovoltaic power plant, fears a drop in the attendance of its guest rooms. “My activity is linked to nature. My customers, which comes for Saint-Cirq-Lapopie [medieval town labeled major Occitanie sites] and the causse, likes to walk. However, there will be a huge wart in the heart of this tourism area Lotoise “, irritates Mr. Drion, who wants to preserve the historic monuments of the place made up of dry stone walls, dolmens and huts (stone shelters for sheep).
Philippe Andlauer, Director of the Causses Du Quercy Regional Natural Park, opposed to the project, argues another argument: “This area has an environmental value: it is a reservoir of biodiversity. Oceeled lizards, beetles and balds- Mouse will suffer, he worries. However, we could have imagined another project, coconstructed with the inhabitants and based on the insulation of existing buildings and the installation of solar panels on already artificialized land and on roofs. “
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