A week of wild camping to defend the land of the Triangle de Gonesse against concreteization

Since Sunday, opponents have been camped in their “zone of imagination for concerted development” or “ZIAC” on municipal land in Villiers-le-Bel, a few kilometers from the Triangle de Gonesse.

The objective: to obtain consultation on development projects for 280 hectares of agricultural land, and more specifically on the construction of a school campus and a station for line 17 of the Grand Paris Express.

Two camps have been opposing each other for years over the purpose of this land wedged between Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport and Le Bourget. Environmental activists refuse its concrete construction while local elected officials demand investments for the east of Val-d'Oise, "left out" of the development of Greater Paris.

Since the abandonment of the EuropaCity shopping and leisure megacomplex project by President Emmanuel Macron in 2019, each party has demanded their due.

“The school does not need to be built on fertile land, it is sufficiently urbanized to find another location,” judges Sophie Almasan, 61, while cutting tomatoes from the garden which will accompany the lentil dahl which perfumes the barnum. This XXL tent serves as a kitchen, living room and place for action consultation.

Asked several times, the socialist mayor of Gonesse Jean-Pierre Blazy refused to respond to AFP on whether or not he wanted to build a school on this disputed agricultural land.

“Our campsite is heavenly and we are ready to last as long as it takes,” assures Djissi Petchot-Bacqué, 61, who had initially planned to stay two or three days on the ZIAC.

“We are in a situation of worsening climate change and these lands are reserves of coolness for Ile-de-France. We have temperatures which do not correspond to the month of October”, alarms the retiree who was pushed by his young daughter to try wild camping.

Territorial downgrading

“To obtain a simple public consultation, we must arrive at civil disobedience,” regrets Bernard Loup, president of the Collective for the Triangle of Gonesse (CPTG). “I would have stayed in my bed!”, assures the tireless 79-year-old activist.

A bailiff came to note the illegal occupation of the land. And every day, police officers visit the camp, without animosity.

Rounds of dishes, towing in the markets, guard duty... life is organized in this shared accommodation for the elderly, supported by younger people who come to spend the day.

There should be no shortage of old campers if the mobilization continues. Fruits and vegetables are offered daily by neighbors, hikers, or even by the many elected environmentalists and rebels who parade.

“When I was at Sarcelles high school, we were still supplied by local market gardeners and we ate great soups,” recalls Sophie Almasan, a retired school teacher. She campaigns for “the return of market gardening in Ile-de-France”. A project is in the pipeline.

A system for promoting fresh food products, "Agrolim", supported by the Rungis International Market (Val-de-Marne) and supported by the Ile-de-France region, must occupy a few plots of land in the Triangle de Gonesse.

This extension of the Rungis market, like the establishment of a school campus or a train station, aims to energize the east of Val-d'Oise, assures its elected officials who are tackling the disconnection of activists from vis-à-vis the reality of the territory. Gonesse, Villiers-le-Bel, Goussainville have in common that they have been downgraded, even though these municipalities are located in a large employment area.

Inspired by Seine-Saint-Denis, an action plan for Val-d'Oise was launched in 2021 by the government to support the profound transformation of the department over the next ten years by improving "service to the territory ", "economic offer", "secondary and higher education" or even "public infrastructure".

For the prefect of Val-d'Oise, Philippe Court, the redevelopment of the territory "is a fantastic opportunity for the residents".