Will the Tour Occitanie see the light of day? Associations and residents opposing the project are continuing their legal proceedings! After the rejection by the administrative court of Toulouse of their appeal against the building permit, the opponents of the Tower filed an appeal before the Council of State. The lawyers believe that the deliberations of the Toulouse administrative court include “significant errors of law”. This appeal in Cassation was filed on behalf of the three residents and the four associations. They are based, in particular, on what is currently happening in Toulouse, on global warming, lack of water and periods of intense drought.
If the schedule for the construction of the Occitanie tower had been kept, the skyscraper would be inaugurated and would already be causing problems with the water supply to maintain this building and water its plantings of shrubs in pots – Richard Mébaoudj, resident and porter speech “No to the skyscraper of Toulouse-Collective for a citizen urbanism”
Associations warn about heat and water
“The people of Toulouse, who have been living in a situation of near-heat waves since May, would be unhappy to have to undergo restrictions to allow the supply of water and energy to sumptuary projects such as that of the Occitanie tower”Richard Mebaoudj
spokesperson for the collective “No to the skyscraper of Toulouse” is worried about the water consumption of the Tower because “it will be necessary to water the vegetation 150 meters high, not to mention the heat island that this Tower will produce” he adds.
“The problem is not the Occitanie Tower”
Won by the Compagnie de Phalsbourg, the Tour Occitanie specifically aims to mark “the return of nature to the city” according to the promoter. We should see some vegetation on the walls.
If the project is criticized on its environmental aspect, some architects defend its cause. For Alex Letellier, architect in Toulouse since 1998, the fight against global warming should not be based on the Tour Occitanie, but on the construction of the outskirts of Toulouse : “We are already careful, in our profession, to respect environmental standards. And it’s not so easy when they change every four or five years. Fighting against global warming means stopping urban sprawl. With the example of Toulouse, we consume three or four times more roads, we concentrate four times more pipes, we consume three or four times more landscaping by spreading out in the periphery. distances to be able to get to work, to friends, to family. We have to stop building individual houses ever further, on land that is now 200/300 square meters” says the architect.
Originally, the Tour Occitanie should have been delivered in 2022, but the construction site took a lot of delay after being attacked in court and the health crisis. It is still unclear whether the promoter will start work after these legal remedies.