This will be October and November rolled into one as it was a very busy period for NPCB, and a fairly fruitful one too!

Following on from the vote against the GDE/GED project by the 108 communes that make up the Pays Centre Ouest Bretagne back in September, the city of Quimperlé and the Communauté de Communes du Pays de Quimperlé (COCOPAQ) passed similar resolutions in October. This means that NPCB now has the support of a total of 124 communes as illustrated on the map we put on line on the site on 1^st November.

Before that, we organised our third fest-noz in Guémené on 10^th October, attended by 200 or so of our supporters with the support of our faithful group of sonneurs and singers who provided excellent music as usual. The final piece where they all joined in was quite an experience!

A few days later, M. Jambou, who is in charge of implementing the SAGE on the Ellé basin, visited the Cohignac site on 15^th October. He has since written to the Préfet to remind him that, now that the SAGE has come into effect, he has to be consulted on the compatibility of any project with the new regulations.

The Préfet of Morbihan, who had promised on 1^st September to visit the site, came on 28^th October, accompanied by Madame Chauvin, Sous-Préfète de Pontivy. He was able to fully assess the specific characteristics of the site at a time when his collaborators are conducting the appraisal of the technical file submitted by GED. Later in the afternoon, he presided a council of the CCPRM and admitted that he was struck by the unanimous rejection of the project and the general hostility towards it. He added that he would soon decide on whether the file could be accepted or not in its present form. According to him, in all likelihood, the public enquiry should not take place before the Spring of 2010, after the regional elections.

The following week, our visitor was Gérard Mével, the Vice President for the Environment of the Conseil Régional. He very clearly expressed his opposition to the project which is totally incompatible with the protection of the environment and of the water resources given the characteristics of the site.

On 15^th November, we were able to enjoy to the full the beauty of our natural surroundings when we set off for the first “Rando Ellé”. The idea was launched jointly by NPCB and Ellé Vivante, our sister association based in Arzano. It involves organising a series of walks between the source of the Ellé and the Ocean. We were excessively lucky with the weather as the wind and rain stopped for the occasion, and we were able to complete our circuit in excellent conditions. We were joined by members of the association “Morbihânes” and half a dozen donkeys which immediately became great favourites ! The next stage, downstream from Plouray, will probably be scheduled sometime in February. Watch this space!

Our next visitor was M. Le Nevanen, who is the Vice-President for sustainable development and tourism of the Conseil Général. He too concluded that the site was wholly unsuitable for such a project because of the relief, the presence of wetlands and the proximity of the river, not to mention the beauty of the area. Since the Conseil Général also manages the construction and maintenance of the routes départementales, another preoccupation was the potential damage caused by the traffic of heavy lorries to the road network. He did surprise us though when he stated that, in his opinion, local tourism was unlikely to be affected if the project went ahead, and that, technically, the latest generations of membranes used in landfill sites were totally reliable!

That day, 20^th November, was very intense. After the outing on the site, we dashed off to Vannes to meet M. Kergueris, the President of the Conseil Général. This interview was probably a consequence of the heavy postbag he'd received from our members and sympathisers. If you remember, we asked you all to write to him to alert him on the project and on the fact that, since the Conseil Général is in charge of the routes départementales, he was likely to get a request from GED to grant them an access to the site, our point being that he MUST NOT do so under any circumstances. During the interview, M. Kergueris assured us that he had not received a request to that effect from GED, and that he was fully aware that the local road network could not take the heavy traffic the project would generate. He refused however to state his opinion on the project, since the Conseil Général is not party to the instruction of the file, and he would go by the Préfet's decision.

We managed to get back just in time to be in Langonnet for our conference on the reduction of domestic waste, that very same evening. This in a way is a by-product of the GED crisis. The waste they would like to dump in Plouray is generated by industrial activities, and therefore not local, which is one of the many reasons why we don't want it. We do however generate waste every day of the year, directly, when we fill our bins, and indirectly, when we buy products the manufacturing of which generated waste. NPCB has been aware of that problem from the very beginning and has started work on alternative solutions. The figures for waste in our community of communes are not good, we could do a lot better. We all have a part to play there, starting with the decision to buy or not (“do I really need this ?”), and whether we buy this product rather than that one, because its packaging is more easily recyclable for example, or by getting food products in bulk rather than little plastic bags or boxes. Then we must be careful to sort our waste so it can easily be recycled, which helps save natural resources, generally uses up less energy AND earns money for the community. This in turn means that our taxes for waste collection and treatment will diminish AND the need for landfill sites and incinerators be considerably reduced (ideally, it should disappear altogether). NPCB is working on proposals to that effect for the CCPRM. One of the keystones of any such operation is to ensure that the population is aware of the issues at stake and determined to cooperate. The conference was organised with this in mind during the European Week for Waste Reduction in collaboration with Eau & Rivières de Bretagne, a regional environmental association which supports our fight.

Another good news is that we've just received a copy of the letter M. Le Drian, President of the Region, has sent to the Préfet de Région, to express his preoccupation in regard to GED's project, requesting that the instruction of the file take into account the need to preserve the environment and the water resources.

We are now waiting to know what the Préfet will decide in regard to the technical file submitted by GED. They have lodged an appeal against the rejection of their application for a building permit, it will obviously take more than that to discourage them!