More legal drama over Beynac bypass

The long-running battle over the controversial Beynac bypass has taken another twist after a court delayed a demolition order by one year and the department revealed it was hoping to resubmit planning permission. The small medieval town of Beynac-et-Cazenac, situated on the banks of the Dordogne river, is a notorious traffic bottleneck, especially in the summer months. At the height of the season 10,000 vehicles squeeze through the narrow gap between the river and the rocky outcrop that dominates the town, often causing long tailbacks.

In 2018, the department was given the go-ahead for a controversial €32 million bypass that would see two bridges take traffic across the river, up the valley, and then back across on the other side of the town. From the outset, the project faced major opposition from environmental campaigners as the area is designated as a protected “Natura 2000” zone and is home to as many as 129 protected species.

Despite losing a series of court battles, departmental authorities pushed ahead with the project, spending €20 million and building two huge bridge supports in the river. Work was eventually stopped in 2019 when the country's highest court agreed with a series of rulings by lower courts and declared the project illegal as no environmental impact study had been made and ordered its demolition.

Since that day, backers of the bypass have insisted that the project is so far advanced it would make no sense to demolish the work already completed – it will cost an estimated €15 million to return the site to its original state. Campaigners have for their part demanded that the court's decisions be respected. “It has been their tactic from the beginning: get on with the work and talk about it later,” said Corinne Lepage, a former environment minister who has opposed the project from the start. “But the administrative courts have not agreed with this presentation of a fait accompli.”

Under French law, there are only three conditions under which construction projects can be undertaken in conservation zones: when no other solution is available; in order to protect the area in question; and when there are over-riding health and safety issues. Numerous court rulings have decided that none of these conditions have been met in this instance.

The extension to a previous demolition order was granted in July on the condition that a demolition contract be presented to the court by January 2023, and that the department pay €5,000 a day from July 2023 if work is not completed. Despite this, the department appears determined not to back down and believes it can apply for fresh planning permission to continue building the bridge and a road to bypass the

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town.

“Work was started quickly and illegally and they have lost, lost, lost and lost again in the courts, and we will continue to oppose them by every legal means,” assured Philippe d’Eaubonne, founder of the Association pour la sauvegarde de la vallée de la Dordogne after the latest legal skirmish. ■

‘Excellent’