An environmental association having filed an appeal against the construction of a golf course near Perpignan announced on Wednesday that it had taken the matter to administrative court. This decision follows the rejection of his request by the Pyrénées-Orientales prefecture.
In this department heavily affected by drought, the Pays Catalan Ecology association called at the end of April for the repeal of the declaration of public utility issued by the prefecture in 2019 to the Villeneuve-de-la-Raho golf course project. Failure to respond within two months is equivalent to an “implicit rejection”, which gives the association the right to bring the case before the administrative court, the prefecture clarified without giving further details.
A “similar” project rejected in Hérault
“We appealed to the administrative court. No responsible citizen can give their approval to such a water-consuming installation when our department suffers from a lack of water. It’s an old world project,” said the president of Catalan Ecology Country, Jean Codognes. He thinks that administrative justice will vindicate the association, referring to a “similar” project near Montpellier. In the name of preserving water resources, the prefect of Hérault issued an unfavorable opinion in May for an 18-hole golf course project with luxury housing.
Jean Codognes relies on this precedent in his argument and also points out that the administrative court of Poitiers canceled on Tuesday water reservoir projects intended for agricultural irrigation, highlighting the inadequacy of the effects of climate change for Cancel. Since April 2022, the level of precipitation has been abnormally low in the Pyrénées-Orientales, the department of France most affected by drought. Strong restrictions on water use are in force. Several villages were deprived of running water.
The mayor of Villeneuve-de-la-Raho defends its economic usefulness
The construction site on the Villeneuve-de-la-Raho golf course, a town located ten minutes from Perpignan, has not yet started. It plans the construction of an eighteen-hole golf course, a hotel with a swimming pool and six hundred housing units. The LR mayor of Villeneuve-de-la-Raho, Jacqueline Irles, at the origin of the project, highlights its economic usefulness and the fact that the town’s wastewater treatment plant would provide 90% of the complex’s water needs. For her, the golf course is “a green buffer to maintain quality of life and a beautiful environment”, emphasizing that it is buildable land.