The building permit has just been issued by the town hall of Toulouse for the demolition of a mansion on the chemin des Clotasses in Pouvourville and the construction of a residence for seniors. The Neighborhood Committee – Sports and Leisure of Pouvourville (CSLP) organized a public meeting on Tuesday, May 17 at the Neighborhood House.

About fifty residents have expressed their concern and incomprehension about the project: the old mansion and its outbuildings (including two wells and a remarkable observatory) will be razed to make way for a “top-of-the-range” senior residence, so reserved for very well-to-do people, the committee believes. Before its sale to the current owner, the house belonged to the Sarding family, a historic family in the neighborhood who founded in 1969 the association for helping people in difficulty “Aidons-nous”, which helps the most deprived, boulevard des Récollets to Toulouse.

The chemin des Clotasses, narrow and winding, does not offer the possibility for two cars to pass each other, it has no sidewalks or pedestrian paths, which obliges the children living at the bottom of the road and educated at the Jean- Pierre Vernant to travel half an hour by bus to school. The project provides for 120 housing units, a set of services including a restaurant and 150 parking spaces, “which is disproportionate to the existing road network and the environment”, according to local residents.

“The ecology of this green zone will be called into question by the construction (destabilizing of the water veins, risk of flooding of the Saint-Agne, etc.), the living environment of the residents will be completely destroyed, and the natural environment will leave instead of concrete”, worry the inhabitants of Pouvourville, who have decided to work together to take action against this disputed project.

The town hall of Toulouse, invited, was not represented. Representatives of the promoter asked to answer the questions of the inhabitants, explaining in particular that the number of parking spaces was imposed by law.