“Christian Estrosi refuses to allow any concrete development on the agricultural lands of the Var Plain”! Really? Who are we kidding?” – say in unison André Aschieri (Vice President of the PACA Region, responsible for agricultural land), Annabelle Jaeger (Regional Councilor for EELV, in charge of biodiversity, representing the Region on the Board of the EPA OIN Plaine du Var) and Mari-Luz Nicaise (Municipal Councilor of Nice, Metropolitan Councilor of Nice-Côte d’Azur)
The environmental officials denounce the sacrifice of new agricultural lands in the Var Plain and call for their preservation and reclamation as part of a comprehensive agricultural project at the scale of the Plain: “The PLU of Saint-Laurent du Var means new fertile lands being sacrificed on the altar of projects of the OIN Plaine du Var: 40% less agricultural area, and almost 60% for the part located in the alluvial plain!”
Facing the imminence of a generalized social, ecological, and financial crisis, the environmentalists advocate for the idea that “not a single square meter of fertile land should be lost”: “On the territory of the OIN Plaine du Var, despite the declarations of local political actors and the stated objectives of a so-called ‘Ecovallée’ supporting a new development model and respectful of agricultural lands, these lands continue to disappear.”
- A widely criticized PLU:
The PACA Region has given an unfavorable opinion on this PLU project which “would have deserved a deeper reflection, both on the future of agricultural spaces and on demographic growth prospects and the needs induced”;
The environmental authority recommends “delaying any zoning modification on this sector while waiting for a more advanced stage of studies allowing a comprehensive planning reflection within the framework of the OIN.”
– What do the environmentalists propose?
“We propose, consistent with the ambitions of the eco-valley territorial project and as recommended by the Environmental Authority, a strong protection status for the agricultural lands of Iscles (ZAP, protected agricultural zone, or PAEN, perimeter of agricultural land protection and peri-urban natural spaces) as well as postponing any new removal of agricultural lands in the Var Plain until a public debate is organized on a global vision, a global layout for the Var Plain, and particularly its agricultural project.”
– The urbanization of the Iscles sector represents a severe setback for the DTA which intended to guarantee the “market gardening plain of Saint-Laurent du Var.”
The former major bed of the Var, formerly devoted to agriculture, is today fragmented by various human activities. But rather than reclaiming agricultural lands, the PLU takes the opposite choice with the creation:
- in the South, on the area formerly classified as agricultural in the POS, of an extension of existing sports facilities but also a future urbanization zone of 21.2 ha in continuity with existing urbanization. It corresponds to the project of expanding the urban area of Iscles around the future sports hub driven by the EPA Plaine du Var;
- to the North, in the Sainte Pétronille/La Baronne sector, the creation of an eco-district, Europe Ecologie Les Verts – Provence Alpes Cote d’Azur, but also of a future urban development area of 3.8 ha as part of a project led by the OIN Plaine du Var (in connection with the future agri-food platform).
– A contradiction for environmentalists, why?
The Iscles sector constitutes the last agricultural space of St Laurent du Var.
Its rich alluvial lands give it strong agronomic value.
The major interest of the Iscles sector has been highlighted by numerous documents: the DTA which imposes the preservation of 20 to 50 ha on this sector, but also the SDAGE which emphasizes its role in regulating the floods of the Var.
Finally, in addition to its ecological interest for certain remarkable or protected species, it constitutes a key piece of the network of ecological continuities, the famous blue and green grid imposed by the Grenelle laws.
– The necessity of urbanizing the Iscles is not clearly demonstrated.
The content of the PLU remains very vague with unclear communal development goals, even contradictory when it comes to housing needs. A potential for urbanization clearly exists in the currently built areas.
The increase of about 3500 inhabitants by 2015 (high estimate of the PLU) could be absorbed by the existing urban areas.
The argument of the municipality that the edges of the Var can be urbanized since they are already nibbled away is not really acceptable. Indeed, the municipality could have had an alternative logic of reconstructing green and blue grids, as provided for by law, through a proactive policy.
– The PLU of Saint-Laurent du Var: a snub to the “Eco-valley”?
“The maintenance of the agricultural activity of Iscles should have had its full place within the working group led by the EPA and the Chamber of Agriculture regarding the agricultural project of the Var Plain. We know nothing about this working group: neither its members nor its objectives. We demand transparency and openness of this working group.”
“Under the guise of projects related to the OIN Plaine du Var, we are once again demonstrating the opposite of sustainable development. Wasn’t the OIN supposed to be a territory for experimenting with Grenelle policies? To invent a new way of planning by restructuring urban space and limiting space consumption? By maintaining, or even recreating natural and agricultural spaces?”
