France/ Agri-food. The commune of Murat-le-Quaire declares its opposition to the spring water catchment project.
The town council of Murat-le-Quaire (Puy-de-Dôme) has voted by a large majority against plans to tap a spring in the Paillère woods.
As the public inquiry officially closes on May 15, and an information and discussion meeting is taking place this evening, the eleven elected members of the Murat-le-Quaire town council decided,on Saturday May 4, by a large majority (nine against and two abstentions) to issue a negative opinion on the project to draw water from a spring located on municipal land in the Bois de Paillère.
Public meeting maintained
The project is backed by SAS Aquamark, which has been bottling mountain water for the Leclerc supermarket network in Laqueuille since 2005. "We received a lot of people, exchanged a lot of information with associations, individuals, collectives... And we felt it was time to take a stand," explains mayor Jean-François Cassier.
This "no" to the project provided an official response to the questions raised by residents of the Sancy commune.
Given the numerous reactions, it was clear that the residents didn't want the project. As elected representatives, we had to follow the residents' decision.
The municipality forwarded its opinion to the managers of the Aquamark plant in Laqueuille, as well as to the investigating commissioner.
The investigating commissioner will continue to gather reactions to the project online, and at two office hours on Tuesday May 7 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and Wednesday May 15 from 2 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Murat-le-Quaire town hall. A public meeting will also be held on Tuesday May 7 at 6:30 p.m. in the village hall.
Elected representatives threatened
In recent weeks, the elected representatives of Murat-le-Quaire, and more particularly the mayor of the commune, have been the victims of an outpouring of violence, particularly on social networks. "Very strong verbal violence", admits Jean-François Cassier, the mayor, still strongly marked by this episode.
"Most of the people we met were against the project, but the debate was very constructive and relevant. On the other hand, online, we were lynched by people hiding behind a pseudonym." This harassment "by attrition" particularly affected the mayor's family.
I suffered a lot. My wife and children too. I never expected this.
Despite this, the mayor has decided not to press charges. But he does admit to wondering about the next stage of his term of office. I love my job as mayor," he says, "but it's going to take time for all this to blow over. Today, I'm very touched."
Source: www.lamontagne.fr/
