There will be no new season of the series “a wasteland, opponents and institutions”. Twenty years after the end of the exploitation of this site by Sernam, ten years after the presentation of the project of reconversion of this wasteland in the heart of Lille, it is justice which gave, this Friday, the clap of end . “The administrative court of Lille confirmed the proper regularization of the authorization under the water law and therefore unreservedly rejected the request of the associations requesting the cancellation of this authorization”, jointly welcomed the town hall of Lille and the European Metropolis of Lille (MEL).
We are not going to repeat here the history of the rehabilitation project for this wasteland, nor of the actions undertaken by its opponents to prevent it. The latest episode was the cancellation of this project in 2021 when it had already been suspended for three years. A cancellation based on a procedural defect which had been welcomed by the opponents as a victory, even if the latter had failed to have the character of general interest of the project canceled.
The Olympic swimming pool will be built
This procedural defect concerning the public inquiry corrected, the MEL was able to initiate a new one, the results of which were validated “without reservation or recommendation” by the investigating commissioner appointed by the president of the administrative court. The prefect therefore issued a new decree authorizing the project, a decree which has just been validated by the courts. “This decision is good news which makes it possible to meet the challenge of three major issues of our time: the right to housing for all, the right to nature in the city, the right to well-being in a conception of the soft city and appeased”, commented the MEL and the town hall.
The development project can now begin. As planned, will be built on these 23 hectares, 2,000 housing units, a sports hall, green spaces and leisure areas. Worst of all for the rejected opponents, the project to build an Olympic swimming pool on the belvedere of the wasteland, abandoned for a time, resurfaces and will be carried out according to the MEL.