Appeals court green lights A69 road project in south-west France

"The Toulouse Administrative Court of Appeal has authorised construction of the controversial A69 motorway between Toulouse and Castres - the latest in a long-running legal saga over a road that has become a flashpoint for environmental protesters. Following the recommendations of the public rapporteur, the appeal judges ruled on Tuesday that "the motorway link project must be considered as responding to an imperative reason of major public interest"."

"According to the court, the Toulouse Administrative Court had been "wrong" to cancel the environmental permit for this project in February, which halted work until a stay approved in May allowed it to resume. The court had ruled that the 'imperative reason of major public interest' could not justify the environmental damage the motorway's construction would cause, since the isolation of the towns of Castres and Mazamet, the main argument put forward by the highway's promoters, had not been proven."

"However, the appeals court decided it was not "necessary to justify a critical situation or particular tension with regard to the isolation or demographic and economic decline of the Castres-Mazamet area" in order to authorise the project. The highway "will provide better connections between the Castres-Mazamet area, which has more than 130,000 inhabitants, and the city of Toulouse," the court explained."

The Toulouse Administrative Court of Appeal authorised construction of the A69 motorway linking Toulouse and Castres, citing an imperative reason of major public interest. The appeals court found the earlier Toulouse Administrative Court was wrong to cancel the environmental permit in February, which had halted work until a May stay allowed it to resume. The earlier court had held that environmental damage could not be justified because the isolation of Castres and Mazamet had not been proven. The appeals court said proving a critical situation was unnecessary, affirmed improved connections for over 130,000 inhabitants, found no satisfactory alternative, and accepted planned compensatory measures for protected species. The Ministry of Transport welcomed the decision.

Read at The Local France