In south-west France, thousands of opponents of a new motorway set off along the planned route of the proposed road.
Organisers estimated four thousand eight hundred people marched on Saturday. The proposed A69 will run from Toulouse to Castres. The demonstrators, some chanting “fewer cars, less tar” say the motorway plan is wrong as the world faces a climate emergency.
Environmental activists say the road scheme will destroy 2,500 trees and surrounding habitats.
Close police surveillance was expected as the government feared protestors might stage sit-ins along the route.
French environmental protestors gathered in south-west France to show their anger at a new motorway plan they say will generate more pollution while also destroying natural habitats.
Nearly a month after the violent clashes between demonstrators and police in Sainte-Soline, western France, over a controversial water reservoir under construction, a demonstration against the planned A69 highway between Castres and Toulouse will take place on the week-end of April 22-23. This new demonstration will again take place under close police surveillance.
The government fears a “zone to defend” (“ZAD”, a form of occupation/sit-in protest) will be established during the protest, which has been called for by organizations including Soulèvements de la Terre (Uprisings of the Earth), one of the organizers of the Sainte-Soline protest. On April 5, during a hearing in the Sénat, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said the project was among 42 which were “likely to give rise to extremely violent protests,” including “against republican institutions.”
To prevent this, authorities are planning to strictly regulate the demonstration, which should begin on Saturday, April 22 at midday in Saïx, southern France. A contingent of nearly 800 gendarmes and CRS riot police will be deployed, including eight mobile units. The prefecture has issued a statement saying the objective of the police mobilization is not “to oppose a gathering (…) and demonstration on a public thoroughfare (…) but to render them secure and respond to any illegal act.”
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