Monsieur Christian Tessier
Président de la Commission
d’Enquête Publique pour le
Parc Eolien de Courseulles sur mer
Lettre recommandée avec AR.
Objet : incompatibilité entre le parc éolien
et le classement UNESCO
Paris, le 8 octobre 2015
Monsieur le Président,
Dans le cadre de l’enquête que vous présidez sur le projet de parc éolien en mer au large de Courseulles-sur-mer, vous avez bien voulu me recevoir le jeudi 1er octobre dernier, en compagnie de messieurs Amaury de Lanquesaing et José Robert, représentants de l’Association Libre Horizon. Je représentais pour ma part l’Association D-Day Heritage, dont je suis le président.
Je tiens d’abord à vous remercier pour cette rencontre qui, au cours d’un long entretien de près de deux heures, assorti de questions et parfois de débats contradictoires, nous a permis d’exposer nos idées et de préciser nos arguments. Je m’en tiendrai pour ma part à ceux qui concernent l’objet de notre association dont vous trouverez ci-joint les statuts. Constituée en avril 2013, celle-ci milite pour soutenir le classement des Plages du Débarquement au Patrimoine Mondial de l’Humanité. Elle a en particulier obtenu que le dossier préparatoire constitué par la Région soit déposé aux services du Patrimoine de l’UNESCO avant le 70ème anniversaire du Débarquement, et figure enfin maintenant sur la « liste indicative » de la France.
Soutenu très officiellement par le Président de la République, qui s’est exprimé sur ce point à Ouistreham le 6 juin 2014 devant un parterre exceptionnel de chefs d’état, ce dossier est désormais en cours d’instruction, dans un processus qui durera probablement plusieurs années. Le travail de D-Day Heritage ne fait donc que commencer, à la fois pour suivre l’évolution du dossier à l’UNESCO, pour soutenir l’action des collectivités concernées, et en particulier pour obtenir l’appui de toutes les autorités internationales intéressées par l’inscription au Patrimoine de l’Humanité. Plusieurs ambassades ont déjà manifesté leur soutien à cette légitime demande.
Or il apparaît clairement que la décision d’implanter des éoliennes offshore à proximité de ces côtes, si toutefois elle est prise, rendra impossible le classement des Plages du Débarquement au Patrimoine Mondial de l’UNESCO. Permettez-moi de rappeler ici les principaux arguments :
- Le premier concerne la « covisibilité » : l’horizon visuel d’un site classé UNESCO doit être protégé de toute implantation parasite ; c’est en vertu de cette contrainte qu’un refus a été opposé à l’implantation d’éoliennes sur les côtes de la Baie du Mont Saint-Michel (arrêt de la Cour Administrative de Nantes du 12 juin 2015). Donnant priorité au classement UNESCO, c’est pour les mêmes raisons que le gouvernement britannique a mis son veto, le 11 septembre 2015, à la construction d’un vaste parc d’éoliennes en mer au large de la Jurassic Coast près de l’île de Wight. Concernant les Plages du Débarquement, la carte ci-jointe qui donne la distance des éoliennes par rapport aux « sites emblématiques », montre clairement que nous serions dans ce cas de figure. Concernant plus particulièrement le Port Artificiel d’Arromanches, haut lieu des Plages et site emblématique par excellence, son classement par décret du 27 octobre 2003, avec les falaises qui l’entourent, ne peut que renforcer la volonté de protection qui s’attache aux sites inscrits au Patrimoine Mondial.
- Le second concerne les lieux de mémoire en général, soumis aux mêmes exigences de protection, par la France comme par l’UNESCO. C’est ainsi que l’incompatibilité avec l’implantation d’éoliennes a été reconnue pour le site de Verdun, par arrêté préfectoral du 17 septembre 2014. De la même manière, le dossier d’inscription des Plages, déposé à l’UNESCO le 7 avril 2014 par la France (et joint en annexe à ce courrier), souligne fortement la qualité du site en tant que « paysage culturel relique évolutif » avec notamment « les constructions mémorielles à proximité immédiate des Plages (cimetières, monuments mémoriaux, etc…) », et le fait que les Plages sont devenues « des lieux de mémoire des morts au combat durant le Débarquement ». Le respect de cette symbolique mémorielle forte « dont le caractère touche incontestablement à l’exceptionnel et à l’universel », implique une protection totale des lieux et exclut de fait la possibilité d’y implanter ce parc d’éoliennes.
- Le troisième argument, dans le prolongement du précédent, est lié à la qualité de cimetière marin qu’ont désormais les Plages du Débarquement ; outre son caractère symbolique, cette approche est notamment fondée sur le recensement scientifique et précis des nombreux vestiges subaquatiques effectué par le DRASSM en août 2013. C’est pourquoi, outre les cinq plages du Débarquement – Utah Beach, Omaha Beach, Gold Beach, Juno Beach et Sword Beach – et les trois sites côtiers les plus importants – Pointe du Hoc, Batterie de Longues-sur-Mer, Port Artificiel Winston Churchill – le dossier déposé à l’UNESCO a été complété par un neuvième élément, celui des vestiges subaquatiques ; mentionné à plusieurs reprises, ce « champ archéologique subaquatique » occupe une place centrale dans le plaidoyer en faveur du classement UNESCO. Ainsi pour justifier la « Valeur Universelle Exceptionnelle » du site, on souligne que « la présence d’un nombre considérable d’épaves et de vestiges subaquatiques au large des plages constitue un témoignage exceptionnel. Ces éléments sous-marins illustrent tant l’intensité des combats que le formidable effort logistique et militaire déployé par les Alliés pour parvenir à franchir le système de défense du Mur de l’Atlantique».
- Ils sont également cités comme témoins majeurs de l’authenticité et de l’intégrité du site : « Les vestiges subaquatiques constituent un témoignage matériel extrêmement important, en étendue, en quantités d’éléments immergés, et en diversité. Ce champ d’épaves, particulièrement dense, s’étend au large jusqu’à environ 20km des côtes. Les profondeurs varient de quelques mètres à plusieurs dizaines de mètres ». Cette fonction majeure de témoignage historique et mémoriel rend évidemment le lieu intouchable. Or la zone ainsi délimitée est précisément celle où il est prévu d’implanter le parc d’éoliennes. L’incompatibilité est ici plus que jamais évidente.
Restant à la disposition de la Commission pour apporter, le cas échéant, toutes précisions sur notre argumentation et notre action, je vous prie de croire, Monsieur le Président à l’assurance de toute ma considération.
Bernard LOING
Président de D-Day Heritage,
5, rue Jean-Carriès
75007 Paris
Tel : 01 83 56 86 84 et 06 08 60 31 49
Adresse mail : bloing@orange.fr
P.J. : - Statuts de l’Association D-Day Heritage
- Carte des « Distances aux sites emblématiques »
- « Les Plages du Débarquement, Normandie, 1944 » : Texte officiel soumis à l’UNESCO le 7 avril 2014, et figurant sur la liste indicative de la France, pour demander l’inscription du site au Patrimoine Mondial de l’Humanité (5 pages). Le document est également consultable sur :
www.http://whc.unesco.org/fr/listesindicatives/5883:
Mr. Christian Tessier
President of the Public Commission for the Investigation into the
Wind farm in Courseulles sur Mer
Subject: Incompatibility between the wind farm
and the UNESCO classification
Paris, October 8, 2015
Mister President,
As part of the inquiry chaired by you on the wind farm project in sea off Courseulles-sur-Mer, you were kind enough to receive me on Thursday, October 1, in the company of Mr. Amaury de Lanquesaing and Mr. Jose Robert, representatives of the Association Free Horizon. I represented for my part D-Day Heritage Association, of which I am the chairman.
First I want to thank you for this meeting which, during a long interview of nearly two hours, with questions and sometimes contradictory debates, allowed us to present our ideas and clarify our arguments. I will concentrate on those which are relevant to our association whose constitution you will find enclosed. Formed in April 2013, it campaigns to support the classification of the Landing Beaches in the World Heritage Site. In particular, it got the preparatory documents established by the Region sent to the services of UNESCO Heritage before the 70th anniversary of the landings and finally now appears on the "indicative list" of France.
Strongly supported officially by the President of the Republic, who spoke on this point in Ouistreham on 6 June 2014 before a special audience of heads of state, this issue is now under investigation in a process that will probably last for several years. The work of D-Day Heritage is just beginning, therefore, both to monitor the progress of the file at UNESCO,
to support the action of the authorities concerned, and in particular, to obtain the support of all the international authorities concerned with the registration as a World Heritage site. Several embassies have already expressed their support for this justified request.
Now it is clear that the decision to set up offshore wind turbines near the coast, if it is taken, will make it impossible to classify the Landing Beaches as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Let me recall here the main arguments:
- The first is the "co-visibility": the visual horizon of a UNESCO listed site should be protected from any unwanted implantation; it is by virtue of this constraint that the installation of wind turbines on the coast of the Bay of Mont Saint-Michel was refused (Case Nantes Administrative Court of June 12, 2015). Giving priority to the UNESCO classification, it is for the same reasons that the British government vetoed, September 11, 2015, construction of a large offshore wind park on the Jurassic Coast near the Isle of Wight. Concerning the Landing Beaches, the attached map which gives the distance of the turbines in relation to the "symbolic sites" clearly shows that we would be in just this situation. Regarding specifically the Artificial Port of Arromanches, a special part of the landing beaches and an emblematic site par excellence, its ranking by a decree of October 27, 2003, along with the cliffs that surround it, can only strengthen the desire to protect which attaches to sites given World Heritage status.
- The second concerns the places of memory in general, subject to the same protection requirements, by France as well as by UNESCO. Thus the incompatibility of installing wind turbines has been recognized at the Verdun site, by decree dated 17 September 2014. Similarly, the registration file for the Landing Beaches, filed with UNESCO on April 7, 2014 by France (and attached to this letter), strongly emphasizes the quality of the site as a "living historical cultural landscape" including "the memorial constructions close to the Beaches (cemeteries, monuments memorials, etc. ...) ", and the fact that the beaches have become" places of remembrance to those who died in combat during the Landing. " The respect of this strongly symbolic memorial "whose character touches the exceptional and universal," implies full protection of the sites and rules out the possibility of siting this wind farm here.
- The third argument, which continues the previous one, is related to the quality of the marine cemetery that the Landing Beaches have now become; in addition to its symbolic nature, this approach is based in particular on the scientific and accurate census of the many underwater relics made by the DRASSM in August 2013. This is why, in addition to the five landing beaches - Utah Beach, Omaha Beach, Gold Beach, Juno Beach and Sword Beach - and the three most important coastal sites - Pointe du Hoc, the battery of Longues-sur-Mer, the Artificial Port Winston Churchill - the dossier submitted to UNESCO was completed by a ninth element, underwater remains ; mentioned several times, this "underwater archaeological area 'is central in the advocacy of UNESCO classification. So to justify the "Outstanding Universal Value" of the site, it was noted that "the presence of a considerable number of shipwrecks and underwater remains off the beaches give outstanding testimony. These submarine elements show the intensity of the fighting as much as the tremendous logistical and military effort deployed by the Allies in order to breach the defensive system of the Atlantic Wall."
- They are also cited as major witness of the authenticity and integrity of the site : "The underwater remains are an extremely important material testimony, in their size , in the amounts of submerged elements , and in their diversity. This field of wrecks , particularly dense , extends to about 20km off the coast . The depths vary from a few meters to tens of meters . " This major element of historical and memorial testimony obviously makes it an untouchable site. But this zone is precisely where it is planned to locate the wind farm . The conflict here is more obvious than ever.
Finally among the reasons which prompted local elected officials to vote in favor of wind turbines are the sums promised in compensation by the promoters of the wind farm. But you should know that classification as a UNESCO World Heritage site will generate revenue for the municipalities concerned, by providing a significant new flow of tourists. "Tour operators" are systematically putting in their plans the sites recognized all over the world. For now, the tourists who visit the Landing Beaches are mostly of European or American origin. If the site is listed by UNESCO, there is likely to be a new type of tourist, particularly from Asia. Moreover, and this is not the least important, this new recognition of the site will have the effect of strengthening both cultural and historical tourism of high quality, reminding the whole world in the most concrete way of the fighting of the past to defend the highest values of freedom and democracy.
I remain at the disposal of the Commission to provide , where appropriate , any information about our arguments and our actions.
Bernard Loing
President of D -Day Heritage ,
5, rue Jean- Carriès
75007 Paris
Tel: 01 83 56 86 84 and 06 08 60 31 49
Mail: bloing@orange.fr
President of the Public Commission for the Investigation into the
Wind farm in Courseulles sur Mer
Subject: Incompatibility between the wind farm
and the UNESCO classification
Paris, October 8, 2015
Mister President,
As part of the inquiry chaired by you on the wind farm project in sea off Courseulles-sur-Mer, you were kind enough to receive me on Thursday, October 1, in the company of Mr. Amaury de Lanquesaing and Mr. Jose Robert, representatives of the Association Free Horizon. I represented for my part D-Day Heritage Association, of which I am the chairman.
First I want to thank you for this meeting which, during a long interview of nearly two hours, with questions and sometimes contradictory debates, allowed us to present our ideas and clarify our arguments. I will concentrate on those which are relevant to our association whose constitution you will find enclosed. Formed in April 2013, it campaigns to support the classification of the Landing Beaches in the World Heritage Site. In particular, it got the preparatory documents established by the Region sent to the services of UNESCO Heritage before the 70th anniversary of the landings and finally now appears on the "indicative list" of France.
Strongly supported officially by the President of the Republic, who spoke on this point in Ouistreham on 6 June 2014 before a special audience of heads of state, this issue is now under investigation in a process that will probably last for several years. The work of D-Day Heritage is just beginning, therefore, both to monitor the progress of the file at UNESCO,
to support the action of the authorities concerned, and in particular, to obtain the support of all the international authorities concerned with the registration as a World Heritage site. Several embassies have already expressed their support for this justified request.
Now it is clear that the decision to set up offshore wind turbines near the coast, if it is taken, will make it impossible to classify the Landing Beaches as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Let me recall here the main arguments:
- The first is the "co-visibility": the visual horizon of a UNESCO listed site should be protected from any unwanted implantation; it is by virtue of this constraint that the installation of wind turbines on the coast of the Bay of Mont Saint-Michel was refused (Case Nantes Administrative Court of June 12, 2015). Giving priority to the UNESCO classification, it is for the same reasons that the British government vetoed, September 11, 2015, construction of a large offshore wind park on the Jurassic Coast near the Isle of Wight. Concerning the Landing Beaches, the attached map which gives the distance of the turbines in relation to the "symbolic sites" clearly shows that we would be in just this situation. Regarding specifically the Artificial Port of Arromanches, a special part of the landing beaches and an emblematic site par excellence, its ranking by a decree of October 27, 2003, along with the cliffs that surround it, can only strengthen the desire to protect which attaches to sites given World Heritage status.
- The second concerns the places of memory in general, subject to the same protection requirements, by France as well as by UNESCO. Thus the incompatibility of installing wind turbines has been recognized at the Verdun site, by decree dated 17 September 2014. Similarly, the registration file for the Landing Beaches, filed with UNESCO on April 7, 2014 by France (and attached to this letter), strongly emphasizes the quality of the site as a "living historical cultural landscape" including "the memorial constructions close to the Beaches (cemeteries, monuments memorials, etc. ...) ", and the fact that the beaches have become" places of remembrance to those who died in combat during the Landing. " The respect of this strongly symbolic memorial "whose character touches the exceptional and universal," implies full protection of the sites and rules out the possibility of siting this wind farm here.
- The third argument, which continues the previous one, is related to the quality of the marine cemetery that the Landing Beaches have now become; in addition to its symbolic nature, this approach is based in particular on the scientific and accurate census of the many underwater relics made by the DRASSM in August 2013. This is why, in addition to the five landing beaches - Utah Beach, Omaha Beach, Gold Beach, Juno Beach and Sword Beach - and the three most important coastal sites - Pointe du Hoc, the battery of Longues-sur-Mer, the Artificial Port Winston Churchill - the dossier submitted to UNESCO was completed by a ninth element, underwater remains ; mentioned several times, this "underwater archaeological area 'is central in the advocacy of UNESCO classification. So to justify the "Outstanding Universal Value" of the site, it was noted that "the presence of a considerable number of shipwrecks and underwater remains off the beaches give outstanding testimony. These submarine elements show the intensity of the fighting as much as the tremendous logistical and military effort deployed by the Allies in order to breach the defensive system of the Atlantic Wall."
- They are also cited as major witness of the authenticity and integrity of the site : "The underwater remains are an extremely important material testimony, in their size , in the amounts of submerged elements , and in their diversity. This field of wrecks , particularly dense , extends to about 20km off the coast . The depths vary from a few meters to tens of meters . " This major element of historical and memorial testimony obviously makes it an untouchable site. But this zone is precisely where it is planned to locate the wind farm . The conflict here is more obvious than ever.
Finally among the reasons which prompted local elected officials to vote in favor of wind turbines are the sums promised in compensation by the promoters of the wind farm. But you should know that classification as a UNESCO World Heritage site will generate revenue for the municipalities concerned, by providing a significant new flow of tourists. "Tour operators" are systematically putting in their plans the sites recognized all over the world. For now, the tourists who visit the Landing Beaches are mostly of European or American origin. If the site is listed by UNESCO, there is likely to be a new type of tourist, particularly from Asia. Moreover, and this is not the least important, this new recognition of the site will have the effect of strengthening both cultural and historical tourism of high quality, reminding the whole world in the most concrete way of the fighting of the past to defend the highest values of freedom and democracy.
I remain at the disposal of the Commission to provide , where appropriate , any information about our arguments and our actions.
Bernard Loing
President of D -Day Heritage ,
5, rue Jean- Carriès
75007 Paris
Tel: 01 83 56 86 84 and 06 08 60 31 49
Mail: bloing@orange.fr