Apart from the distant bleating of a few sheep and the chirping of birds, no sound disturbs the gentle peace of the surrounding landscape. But this peace and this biodiversity are exactly what we came here to look for,” complains Chantal Houssin, who has been coming to spend her holidays in the heart of the village of Chéniers, in Sacierges-Saint-Martin, for seventy years.
Like the fifty members of the Grosse tuile association, formed at the end of 2022, she is not angry at the “terrible” project of the Terreal company, which wants to open a clay quarry in a place called Le-Joux, not far from her home, by 2025. On Saturday, February 17, about forty locals took to the streets of the village to shout their opposition to this issue, whose public discussion should end this Wednesday, February 21.
In addition to the impact on the environment, the protesters fear the price of their houses will drop.
© (Photo by NR, Martine Roy)
“We will massacre the country with a thousand bars”
”This project will be to the detriment of thirteen ponds and several hectares of forest. This is nothing trivial. It is an open-air clay quarry that will leave a lasting mark on our soil because it would stretch over fifty hectares with twenty to thirty trucks that would pass by our homes every day, crossing Saint-Benoît-du-Sault (ranked among the most beautiful villages in France) and travel through the center of the Regional Natural Park to Charente, 130 kilometers away! It's irresponsible,” thundered Thierry and François Houssin.
Among the protesters, four recently installed owners say they feel “cheated”.”No one talked to me about this project before I bought my house, at the end of 2021. I decided to come here because of the environment, the proximity to Brenne Park. It was not given to me to choose whether to accept or not to settle near the quarry. Now I am a prisoner for the next thirty years, complains Aline Ponchard, who also fears the impact of the project on the real estate value of her property.Who will want to buy our houses with such inconveniences? »
Starting from Croix-de-la-Barre, near the site of the future quarry, the protesters marched to the village of Chéniers.
© (Photo by NR, Martine Roy)
A fear shared by Amélie Sottiau, also the owner since 2019. Coming from the north of France in search of a “green environment, without pollution” to raise her children, she is angry that she discovered the project afterwards.”I didn't know that the Terreal company had started buying land at least since 2016 and that the municipalities knew about the quarry project since 2018. Nobody told us anything. I discovered everything by chance, one morning in September 2021, when I met a professional who came to take measurements to study noise pollution. I was stunned. »
For their first demonstration, opponents of the project symbolically gathered in Croix-de-la-Barre, near the site of the future quarry, and then marched to the village of Chéniers. Their parade stopped in front of the street that leads to the house of Mayor Sacierges. Soon they plan to go to the city hall to hand in signatures for the petition they started on the Internet.”The goal was at least to be heard before the end of the public investigation,” explains Johanna Mélinand. Now we hope that the prefect will not confirm the file. That would be so inconsistent with all the advertising campaigns about the beauty of our living environment. How can we praise the land of a thousand ponds all the way to Paris and approve a project that will massacre our landscapes? »
Online petition on change.org, titled “Reject Dept 36 Open Pit Clay Mining Project”
The “serious project” is defended by the mayor of Sacierges-Saint-Martin
The project submitted by the company Terreal (specialist in terracotta construction materials based in Suresnes, Hauts-de-Seine) envisages the establishment of a clay quarry on an area of 50 hectares (located in Roussines and Sacierges), for a period of thirty years. The extraction is intended for the Roumazières-Loubert factory (in Charente), which produces terracotta tiles and whose clay reserves are running low. An average annual extraction of almost 67,000 tons of clay (maximum 90,000 tons) is planned at a depth of 4 to 15 meters. Terreal is planning an average of 11 truck round trips per day (or 22 passes).“Extraction would take place from June to September, and heavy trucks would travel from September to June. Because of this, we would be affected for the whole year”, say the opponents.
The public hearing ends on Wednesday, February 21. The file will then be in the hands of Prefect Indre. Contacted, the mayor of Sacierges, whose council voted unanimously for the project, was reassuring.”Terreal respected the recommendations of the Regional Nature Park. They will gradually restore the area, restore wetlands and replant. It is a serious project and the inconvenience caused will be very limited, assures Thierry Bernard. The construction industry needs tiles. It's always better to produce it locally than to go and get it from China,” claims the elected official, who denies wanting to hide anything from those being governed.”Terreal ran this project, we were not associated with it or consulted before we had to make an official decision during our council meeting on Monday, February 12. »