Sale of Grignon to Altarea: opponents have not said their last word

It has been the cradle of French agronomy for 200 years. The vast Grignon estate and its XNUMXth century castle in the Yvelines will be ceded by the State to the developer Altarea Cogedim. But the opponents of the project - former students, local elected officials and heritage defenders - are preparing the response.

A place steeped in history

Located in the small town of Thiverval-Grignon (1.100 inhabitants) in Yvelines, the Grignon estate is occupied by the school of agricultural engineers AgroParisTech and by researchers.

Given by Henri II to his favorite Diane de Poitiers in the 290th century, it covers XNUMX hectares.

It includes a 130th century castle listed as a historical monument. The estate also includes 133 hectares of agricultural land, including an experimental farm, and over XNUMX hectares of woodland.

In 1826, King Charles X bought the estate and dedicated it to agronomy and the teaching of agricultural practices. This has remained the vocation of the site to this day.

Moving to Saclay

The sale of the estate is part of the project to create a "great pole of scientific excellence" on the Paris-Saclay campus bringing together AgroParisTech and the laboratories of the Inrae Research Institute, underlines the Ministry of Agriculture .

To carry out this new installation, decided in 2015, the various AgroParisTech sites in Ile-de-France are sold, including Grignon. The move is scheduled for 2022.

In 2015-2016, the government had already considered ceding Grignon to PSG, which was looking for a training site. This had sparked an outcry and the project had been abandoned.

Call for tenders

If their move to Saclay is not questioned by the students, the launch of the call for projects in March 2020 has raised concerns. The students blocked the domain for three weeks.

In a column in May in the JDD, more than 170 scientists, including climatologist Valérie Masson-Delmotte, estimated that the selection criteria "posed great threats to the integrity of the estate and the preservation of its exceptional heritage".

The signatories are supporting a project, "Grignon 2026", which intends to make the site an "international center on the food and agricultural transition". It is supported by the Association Patrimoine AgroParisTech-Grignon 2000, which brings together former students of Agro, with the support of the community of communes Coeur d'Yvelines (31 communes).

Choice of a "realistic" project

The selection committee of the State Real Estate Department selected on August 4 the Altarea Cogedim project, which was in competition with another developer and with Grignon 2026.

"It is the choice of a realistic and reliable project", declares to AFP the Ministry of Agriculture, whose current boss Julien Denormandie is a former of "Agro".

The ministry did not wish to communicate the amount of the sale.

"At the heart of the State, the State sells off Grignon and remains deaf to a project of general interest concerning climate change," lamented the holders of Grignon 2026, revealing on August 11 the choice of the State.

In the Altarea project, the castle will host seminars and events. The promoter has a residential program, with rehabilitation of buildings and new constructions. It also wants to offer "responsible tourism programming".

"The estate is going to be dismantled", deplores Mathieu Baron, general delegate of the Patrimoine AgroParisTech Grignon 2000 association.

Altarea will entrust the management of the 133 hectares of woods to the Yvelines departmental council, which would become the owner, according to the ministry. He will leave the operation of the experimental farm to AgroParisTech students.

Response in preparation

The Grignon 2000 association "is studying the possibility of appealing to the administrative tribunal," Mathieu Baron told AFP.

The (unlabeled) mayor of Thiverval, Nadine Gohard, stressed that the Altarea project involved changing the local urban plan (PLU). "I will not do it," she assured AFP on Sunday.

With Grignon 2026, "of course, the state would have collected a little less money, but the project was financially and legally secure," she said.

The defenders of Grignon 2026 also count on the support of heritage defense associations.

"We will continue to fight for the protection of the Grignon domain and we will not be the only ones", writes Didier Ryckner of the Tribune de l'Art.