Le Vent Tourne Mouthoumet 28 July
Le Vent Tourne, a day of discussion and activism organsed by le Collectif Citoyen des Corbieres Vivantes is this Saturday in Mouthoumet.
Under the slogan of “Energie global democratie locale” the organisers have put together a great programme of activities and discussions.
Le Vent Tourne all kicks off at 8am with a guided walk around between Mouthoumet and Salza, with the botanist Laurie Beaufils and the water geologist Michel Yvroux. The walk starts from the Mairie of Mouthoumet.
10am is the official opening with a series of workshops on the environment, renewable energy and the rural environment, there will also be a library and a load of stands to visit.
11.15 The film Le Depossedes by Antoine Costa will be shown
12;30 Lunch
2.30^m Conference with Arthur Keller, from the association Adrastia on The industrial society, vulnerabilities, the energy transition and sustainability
4pm Showing of the documentary Pas res nos Arresta about the creation of an association in the Aveyron formed to ithe building of a transformer to receive the power from hundreds of wind turbines.
PAS RES NOS ARRESTA from Synaps Collectif Audiovisuel on Vimeo.
5pm Round table discussion on Energie and democracy in the Corbieres With Arthur
Keller, Julien Hostache (ENERFIP), Gregoire Sochay (Journalist), Gilbery Dargegen (FASPA), Florence Robert, the writer and shepherb from Albas, Thierry Robert (LPO) and Michel Yvrous
8pm Dinner
9pm Ostinata , women’s choir singing songs from all around the world
It looks like the organisers have put a great deal of work into le Vent Tourne, which will bring together most of the community of the High Corbieres opposed to the installation of the wind farm between Mouthoumet and Davejean. As well as campaigning against the wind farm they have also put a lot of work into supporting the move to create a regional nature Park that will, if it goes ahead, span the Hautes Corbieres and the Fenouillèdes.
My own thoughts on the wind farm can be found here Wind Turbines in the Hautes Corbieres where I argue that if the revenues from the wind turbines are used to create an investment fund for expanding the small scale organic agricultural activity in the Corberes then I was reluctantly in favour of a limited expansion. However no such proposal has been made and the revenue is most likely to disappear into the shrinking communal and inter communal budgets. The meeting we had with the Chamber of Agriculture, see a report here Consulting the Peasants about the Hautes Corbieres Wind Farm , was particularly uninspiring with little imagination being shown on alternatives that will help develop a thriving sustainable local economy.
Sadly the organisers of Le Vent Tourne have chosen a Saturday to hold the event so we will be unable to attend as Saturday is our most imprtant market day with Caroline in the Organic market in Narbonne and I”ll be in Perpignan, but we wish them a great day.
oh! How sad I am to see you so disappointed… Did you really think that money would be shared with ” les petites exploitations agricoles du territoire qui oeuvrent pour la production locale et biologique “? that is exactly what we tried to explain to you last year when we talked about the wind farm project in Maisons …
Asking a big industrial wind farm company like EDF EN, and the Comm Comm who lick their toes to give back money to the little farmers is like asking to your cat :
” my dear boy, please do not eat the sausage that I’ve left on the kitchen table while I go to the bathroom to wash my face …”
He will scrub his back on your leg, he will softly spurr to your ears, he will look at you in a big green yellow glance, and when you’re back the sausage ‘s gone …. ah ah !!
More seriously, try to have some informations on what is going on in Palairac, with the project of the “poste source” the big Transformator ” If you have any contact on that village try to know. The mayor and the councellors are all for. The population reminds full asleep. It is said that the english community doesn’ t move a fart. This “poste” is the main key. If it’s done, we will have more than hundred big industrial wind farms all around the area, to make it bankable… Don’ t believe the cat that spurrs ” ooh only ten or maybe fifteen , no more, no more , a cat’s promise is a cat’s promise … the sausage is too long and thick … If you know some english people over there who could react and speak to the mayor, as far they are not too mesmerized with the so charming art of life in Palairac…
well well … we will have try,
have a nice night !! sorry for my approximate english
Hi Thierry,
Actually as I wrote about here,http://montrouchorganic.com/consulting-peasants-hautes-corbieres-wind-farm/ there already has been discussions with the Chambre d’Agriculture about investing some of the revenues from the wind farms in agricultural projects in the area. In the meeting Caroline and I attend, which was for Maisons, Montgaillard and Dernacueillette, there was the Mayors of the lastt two villages but not one person from the council of Maisons. As you know the revenue from wind farms is shared between the hosting villages and the Intercommunity. If, and I agree it is a big if, the Intercommunity decide to invest in agricultural projects then every euro they spend is match funded by a euro from EDF.
There is also nothing to stop local communes creating a fund from revenues from the wind farms to invest in local projects, micro funding for new agricultural projects, renewable energy, social housing. But of course both the intercommunity funding and commune funding relies on the political will of the local politicians, not very reliable base.
Salut Thierry,
En fait, comme je l’ai écrit ici, http: // montrouchorganic. com / consulting-paysans-hautes-corbieres-vent-ferme / il y a déjà eu des discussions avec la Chambre d’Agriculture pour investir une partie des revenus des parcs éoliens dans les projets agricoles de la zone. Lors de la réunion à laquelle participaient Caroline et moi, qui était pour Maisons, Montgaillard et Dernacueillette, il y avait les maires des deux derniers villages mais pas une seule personne du conseil de Maisons. Comme vous le savez, les revenus des parcs éoliens sont partagés entre les villages hôtes et l’Intercommunauté. Si, et je suis d’accord, c’est un gros, si l’Intercommunauté décide d’investir dans des projets agricoles, alors chaque euro dépensé est financé par un euro d’EDF.
Rien n’empêche également les communes locales de créer un fonds à partir des revenus des parcs éoliens pour investir dans des projets locaux, le microfinancement de nouveaux projets agricoles, l’énergie renouvelable, le logement social. Mais bien sûr, le financement intercommunautaire et le financement communal dépendent de la volonté politique des politiciens locaux, pas de base très fiable.
Je vais essayer de réparer le site afin que vos commentaires soient publiés immédiatement. Un peu moins d’abus peut empêcher le système anti-spam de mettre vos commentaires dans le système d’administration.
Feedback from friends who attended the event says that this year’s day was particularly well organised, well attended and well moderated; With the majority, naturally, being those that oppose the wind farm there was a few who supported the project. They were listened to, and apart from the usual hot heads, the debates were conducted amicably. Well done the orgainisers.