The town hall of the village of Courmelles, near Soissons (Aisne), resigned itself on Monday to signing the building permit for the Rockwool rock wool factory, despite its ongoing fight against the installation of the site, we learned Tuesday from the mayor.
“Nothing is finished, it’s only one step in a fairly long process”, assured Arnaud Svrcek, mayor (without label) of this village where the Danish company, world leader in wool, wants to set up. rock, a cheap insulator but criticized for the polluting emissions generated by its production.
Mr. Svrcek confirms information from the newspaper L’Union according to which his first deputy signed the building permit on Monday, but added prescriptions, in particular on respect for protected species.
“We are only applying the December court decision, because not doing so meant putting ourselves in the wrong and amputating our chances for the appeal,” added Mr. Svrcek.
In December, the administrative court of Amiens had canceled the decree of the town hall of Courmelles refusing the building permit filed by Rockwool, judging among other things that the mayor had not respected “the principle of impartiality” in this file.
The court had ordered the town hall to reconsider the request within three months, that is to say before March 8. The town hall appealed.
The text signed on Monday specifies that the building permit is of a “provisional nature”, pending the decision on appeal.
“Our main concern is that they cannot start” the construction site, underlined Mr. Svrcek, who embodies the fight led in his commune against the factory project.
He recalls that in addition to the appeal of the town hall, the appeal of associations of opponents against the authorization to operate granted by the prefecture has not been judged at this stage either.
The construction of this factory, which would employ 130 people, is disputed by residents and doctors of Soissonnais, who fear in particular the release into the air of dust and products such as phenols, formaldehydes and ammonia.
On the other hand, the project is supported, among others, by the mayor of Soissons and president of the agglomeration of Greater Soissons, Alain Crémont (DVD), and by the Hauts-de-France region chaired by Xavier Bertrand (LR).
The town hall of Courmelles must organize a public consultation on this project on June 11.
25/04/2023 14:23:08 – Lille (AFP) © 2023 AFP