Caen. The felling of trees on the Place de la République deemed illegal by the rapporteur of the Nantes Court of Appeal
The Nantes Administrative Court of Appeal held a hearing on Tuesday December 21 to rule on the legality of the felling of the large lime trees in the Place de la République. The case was put under advisement on January 14th.
After several months of battle, this is a first victory for the Greens. The rapporteur of the Nantes Court of Appeal considers the felling of trees in the Place de la République in Caen to be illegal.
For the ecologist Rudy L’Orphelin: “It is a satisfaction to note that the public rapporteur followed our argument”.
Indeed during the hearing two major points were put forward. The first is that “Joël Bruneau, mayor of Caen, ignored the scope of the law. He should have initiated a prior declaration procedure on the basis of the town planning code, which means that the Prefect of Calvados did not have the quality to authorize the felling of trees “. The second point is that “the public rapporteur considers that the first groundbreaking is indeed part of an overall project and that this operation cannot be isolated from the commercial complex that the mayor of Caen is planning on this plot. An assessment of the impact of the project on the environment should have taken place before slaughter “.
During the morning of February 23, 2021, 45 lime trees in the Place de la République were sawn on the decision of the mayor of Caen, Joël Bruneau, who had received the green light from the Prefect of Calvados.
The Greens reported by Rudy L’Orphelin denounced a “forced passage” of the town hall of Caen denying the commitment that it had made to wait for the end of the appeals before any intervention. The ecologists had indeed requested a consultation at the time but it had been refused by Joël Bruneau: “It should have taken place and it is recognized as a count of illegality by the public rapporteur” explains Rudy L’Orphelin.
The felling of these trees in the early morning and under the surveillance of the police, wanted to stir and anger within the Caen population, many wondering if the mayor was entitled to remove all these lime trees to allow a promoter to build a commercial real estate complex, at a time when the protection of the environment appears to be an urgent necessity.
In 2018, environmentalists first seized the Administrative Court of Caen but the request was rejected. Convinced of the illegality of the slaughter, the Greens decide to maintain their appeal before the Administrative Court of Appeal of Nantes and this time the public rapporteur follows their reasoning by concluding that the decree of February 5, 2019 by which the Prefect of Calvados authorized the Mayor of Caen to cut down the trees on the Place de la République: “We said that we would go to the end (…) and we continue to claim that it is still possible to do differently for the Place de la République and to have a project shared with the population, the traders which allows a commercial attractiveness while respecting nature “ loose Rudy The Orphan.
The case was put under advisement on January 14th.
The editorial staff recommends: The felling of trees in the Place de la République is an “outrageous commando operation” believes the opposition