The construction site of an Ardèche religious complex suspended by the prefecture

The prefect of Ardèche has issued a decree to "put the developer on notice so that he can regularize the administrative situation of the construction project in Saint-Pierre-de-Colombier", specifies the prefecture in a press release.

This decree “suspends the work until a request for a protected species exemption (flora) is filed and granted”.

"Failing this", a complementary environmental study must be produced, "indicating the absence of significant negative residual impact on the Résada de Jacquin (protected plant species in the region) during the work phase and in particular earthworks".

The Missionary Family of Notre-Dame-des-Neiges (FMND), a traditionalist Catholic community, wants to build a reception center for pilgrims in Saint-Pierre-de-Colombier but has faced opposition from environmentalists since 2018.

The work began in May 2019. But the prefecture suspended it in October 2020 while the FMND project provided for the creation of a reception building and a chapel that could accommodate 3.500 people. The local bishop, however, refused to give his approval to this latest building, in the name of "the disproportionate aspect of the project".

The work resumed in October, giving rise to a muscular face-to-face between the opponents, who notably chained themselves to the excavators, and the religious people who sometimes used their bodies to push them back.

An association opposed to the "concretion of the site" located in the Ardèche mountains had obtained the suspension of this work in October but the decision of the judge, who cited the presence of this plant, was invalidated on appeal last February, according to the FMND website.