95c | ISSUE 13 | AUGUST 2012
PUBLISHERS OF
NEWS, WHAT’S ON INFO FOR AUDE, GARD, HERAULT, LOZERE, PYRENEES-ORIENTALES
WOLVES and pet dogs left free to roam at night are being blamed for a spate of attacks on sheep farms in the Lozère. Owners are being advised to keep their dogs shut in overnight following several cases of sheep-worrying. Armed rangers are on night patrol and have permission to shoot over the heads of any stray or aggressive dogs. However, they are not authorised to kill the dogs, much to the anger of sheep farmers. In a series of attacks, dozens of sheep have been killed and many more injured. One farm near Langogne lost 30 sheep in one night. Further attacks have been reported in Florac, Hures-la-Parade, Mas-SaintChély, Montbrun and Vebron. Police have rounded up several stray dogs and taken them to the pound, but the attacks continue and traps have proved ineffective. Sheep farmers leave their sheep to roam freely at night. There are local fears that the sheep have been the victims of a re-emerging wild wolf population in the region. For some years there have been reports of wolf sightings in Lozère, two photographs have been taken of lone wolves, and one set of wolf droppings has been found. It is a controversial issue as wolves are a protected species.
Photo: festivalducarcassonne.fr
Warning to dog owners after spate of attacks on sheep
€4 million expansion to airport under way by SAMANTHA DAVID
ALICE COOPER TO PLAY CARCASSONNE Page 8
A MAJOR project to expand Montpellier airport to accommodate more passengers and make journeys easier has begun and should be finished in time for 2013’s peak summer season. The airport is to have a new departure hall meaning the existing one will be dedicated to arrivals only. The new building has been designed to complement the current one and will have two levels. Security and scanning will be housed on the ground floor and upstairs there will be an expanded duty free shop (250m2 instead of 70m2) and 500m2 of other shops and food outlets. There will also be workspaces and free wi-fi for 10 minutes. Work has already been completed on a new arrivals hall, with new luggage conveyor belts. The aim is to make transiting the airport faster and more convenient so airlines can make faster turnarounds. The expansion will cost around €4million, entirely financed by the airport. More than 1.3 million people pass through Montpellier airport every year. The figure has
risen steadily since tourism became more mainstream in the 1970s, reaching a peak of 1.75 million people in 2000. Since then, numbers had been in decline but have started to grow again, up 5% since January. Low-cost airlines arrived in 2002. The latest addition is Volotea Airlines, which has launched two new links from Montpellier to Nantes and Strasbourg. The European Commission is currently inspecting the airport’s books carefully to see if any competition laws have been broken by offering Ryanair financial help to serve Montpellier. The airline has billed the airport for each passenger at a rate of €9 each, which amounted to some €4.5million between 2002 and 2006, and in 2009 and 2010, the regional council paid Ryanair around €2million. Ryanair says that, without the payments, it would be forced to pull out of the airport.
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