Toulouse: Residents oppose the construction of a biomass boiler room
On the site of the current skate park, rue Ernest-Renan in Toulouse, a biomass boiler room intended to supply the district with energy will be installed. The project is a continuation of the developments for the new ZAC Grand Matabiau. Only, this one has caused a lot of ink to flow and angered some local residents such as Claire Carrière, a resident fiercely opposed to this construction: “It’s a smoke! We were not concerted and we are being forced to build a factory which will be supplied by 38-tonne trucks daily”.
In addition to the noise pollution and the lack of consultation, she denounces a deeper problem: “It’s a plant that is polluting, the filters on the chimney will not change the particles released into nature. I remind you that the nearest houses are twenty meters away and there is a school next door”. The tender for the construction closed on Tuesday and work is expected to start sometime in 2023. However, the boiler room should not be operational until 2024.
“We are mobilizing before the first shovel is given”
Within the committee opposing the construction, there are many who denounce the poor choice of location for such a project. Serge Baggi, president of the Minimes – Barrières de Paris district, intends to do everything possible to prevent the construction site: “Our committee has 400 members and 1,000 people have already signed a petition for the relocation of this boiler room”the project goes even further “we are mobilizing now, and very strongly, before the first plow is given “.
The idea of the committee and therefore no longer a displacement of the construction project, Serge Baggi explains: “We have made proposals for the project to be placed in a more suitable place like the edge of the four-lane boulevard of Atlanta ». Judge the area” green » and as being “a meeting place for young people”, the preservation of the Skate Park rue Ernest Renan is a priority for the committee, on this, Serge concluded: “The whole environment will be impacted while we are in a green space, there will be gas and wood that will be heated, very close to homes, colleges and metros…”
Fear of an impact on neighboring neighborhoods
As the committee pointed out: ” The problem is that no neighborhood in Toulouse accepts this project, it’s dirty and polluting ». If recently the wind was invited in Toulouse, members of the committee do not fail to use it for comparison “With the wind, the smoke will also spread to the surrounding neighborhoods. If there is none, it will be for us”. Next Saturday a rally is organized at the very place where the work should begin, rue Ernest Renan.