The PLU'més of Chaillevette are taking the Royan Atlantique urban community to court

The association criticizes the inter-municipal authority, in the context of the development of the Territorial Coherence Plan (SCoT), for not having maintained the land in the so-called Grand fer à cheval sector in a building zone.

Their fight is not new, but this time, they intend to strike hard. The PLU'més of Chaillevette, named after the inhabitants of the Grand fer à cheval, who, according to their count, comprise 287 houses (around 500 inhabitants), are still fighting to ensure that the land in this area, which they consider urbanized, remains in a buildable zone. However, government services do not see it that way. Under the pretext of the Coastal Law, building permits have been systematically refused in recent years. "This area was buildable until 2014. Suddenly, the Departmental Directorate of Territories and the Sea (DDTM) decided to classify it as a diffuse housing zone. It therefore became unbuildable. The value of the land has collapsed, even though many owners had bought with the intention of building," emphasizes the association's president, Robert Duc, who has lost all the lawsuits filed so far.

"They managed to make people believe that there were only about forty scattered houses here and that it should therefore be relegated to a natural zone in the Local Urban Plan (PLU)", laments the person concerned, who is angry with the Royan Atlantique Urban Community (Cara) for having followed the same line as the DDTM in drafting the Territorial Coherence Plan (SCoT). This urban planning document, which determines the spatial organization and the main development guidelines of a territory, was approved by the elected officials of the Agglomeration on December 18, 2024 and classifies the Grand fer à cheval as a natural zone.

On the day of the SCoT vote, around thirty members of the association demonstrated in front of the inter-municipal authority's offices. "President Vincent Barraud had promised us a meeting. It did take place, but without us. Our mayor, Angèle Bazin, was present, but not much came of it," said François de Sariac, a member of the association's board. Hence the legal action brought before the Poitiers administrative court by the PLU'més against the urban community.

Defended by Pierre Jean-Meire, a Nantes lawyer specializing in this type of case, the association's members are calling for the Territorial Coherence Plan to be revised to reconsider the classification of the land in the Grand Fer à Cheval as a building zone. "The Cara has issued rules to classify this or that area as a natural zone, an already urbanized area, or an agricultural zone. Rules that it did not follow for Chaillevette but that it applied, for example, to the place called Taupignac in Breuillet. There is a double standard that we cannot tolerate," insists the association's secretary, Laurent Cordier.

Furthermore, requests for compensation have been made to the Chaillevette municipality. Robert Duc, for his part, would like to be reimbursed for the expenses he has incurred over several years in this fight. "This whole thing has already cost me €7,000," he says. Everyone is talking about a ludicrous situation. "We have roads, water and electricity networks, fire hydrants for the fire department, 92 streetlights to be exact, and we're not in an already urbanized area... It's incomprehensible," fumes Robert Duc, who has counted 35 available plots of land, including vacant lots and wasteland.

The inconveniences, however, are numerous. "I have a vacant plot of 2,000 square meters. I was thinking of building, but everything is blocked. I can't even install a garden shed," emphasizes the president of the PLU'més, who isn't even thinking about a swimming pool. Recently, a real estate agent "offered 1,500 euros for a plot of 3,500 square meters. Can you imagine! Many people are going to lose a lot in this case." In any case, there's no question of these die-hard Chaillevettons giving up. "There was the same problem near Vannes, in Morbihan, and the residents, represented by Mr. Jean-Meire, won at first instance. The community appealed, but it's encouraging," says Michel Robert, another member of the association's board. And if that's not enough, there will always be time "to sue the Departmental Directorate of Territories and the Sea..."