A decree that will not only make people happy. This Wednesday, the prefect of the North signed the document worth environmental authorization for the project of extension of the airport of Lille-Lesquin. A decision which logically follows the favorable opinion, nevertheless accompanied by recommendations, of the commission of inquiry. A blow for the critics of the project, who see in this extension an environmental aberration precisely.
“Taking note of this favorable opinion [de la commission d’enquête], Georges-François Leclerc, prefect of the North and the Hauts-de-France region, signed this Wednesday, July 6 the decree worth environmental authorization of the project to modernize Lille-Lesquin airport, “declares the prefecture in a communicated. This commission of inquiry issued its opinion following the public inquiry conducted from January 10 to March 1. However, it had conditioned it on the organization by the project leaders, the airport and Smalim, of a consultation meeting with a view to developing “a mechanism to support the development of the airport”. The commission also issued five “recommendations”.
A night flight freeze based on 2019 activity
The meeting having been organized on June 30, there was no longer any obstacle to the State giving the green light to the project. In his decree, the prefect however included “several measures for the supervision of the project”, aiming in particular to “preserve the fauna and flora, offset greenhouse gas emissions, maintain rainwater infiltration and protect the water resource”.
Mention is also made of the fight against noise pollution. On this point, the text signed by the prefect “formalizes the project leader’s commitment not to increase nighttime activity by freezing night flights on the basis of the 2019 situation”. Not sure that this is enough to convince the detractors of the project.