Almost two months ago Lorgues resident Sally Perigo discovered that an old limestone quarry, literally on her doorstep was to be reactivated and started investigating. The re-exploitation of the quarry had initially been given permission by the Mayor of Lorgues, and subsequently by the Prefet of the Var. The new Mayor of Lorgues, Claude Alemagna,  subsequently withdrew his consent, and his Conseiller Municipale, amongst whom number Hilary Smith, a British expat resident of several years, who runs a Chambre D’Hote just on the outskirts of Lorgues, all voted against the project.  

Local residents, both French and expat  have been fighting a strong campaign to get the project cancelled. With stalls in the local Lorgues market they have managed to get over 1000 signatures for a petition (the Lorgues population numbers just under 10,000) and on the 22nd July they are demonstrating with a peaceful march up the Chemin des Girards – the extremely small country chemin, which the quarry company propose to use for 20 ton lorries. It was totally devastated in the recent Draguignan floods, with two small bridges that are planned to be used by the lorries, all but knocked out by the floods.

Lorgues  has one of the highest foreign resident populations of all the villages in the upper Var. They have bought houses, and installed themselves because of the beauty and quiet of the countryside. Many of them rent out villas and also run Chambres D’Hote, which attract tourists into the region.

It seems incredible to me that after the Draguignan floods any such project could go ahead, bearing in mind the possible repercussions on the waterways of the Var. The Chemin des Girards is extremely narrow and follows the path of a stream (thus cannot be enlarged) which during the floods became a raging torrent, like others in the Lorgues commune.  20 ton lorries would block all access to any other road users, and undoubtedly cause immense damage to the two already badly damaged bridges, and make it impossible for the Sapeur Pompiers to reach the forest in that area in a time of forest fire, or the security services, Samu and ambulance, that is totally apart from the fallout for the environment, and for tourism.

Tourism is the major lifeblood of the Var, it supports the economy, supports all the commerce in Lorgues, and other hill land villages. It seems incredible, when the Var Tourism Department is working night and day to recover from the dreadful fallout of the Draguignan floods – and has been given extra funds to do so by the State Minister for Tourism  - that such a project, which will have repercussions on local tourism, is allowed to go ahead.

Expats in France join locals to fight against mining company  telegraph.co.uk 27 Jul 10 Expats and locals in a historic French town have united in protest against plans to reactivate a quarry that threatens to destroy the town's economy and ecology. More than 1,000 French, British, Dutch and Swedish residents have marched against a mining company's request to mine 35,000 tonnes of limestone per year for the next 15 years from the quiet Provençal town of Lorgues. Known for its outstanding natural beauty, the fortified medieval town, approximately 80km from Nice, has long been synonymous with retired expats and charming B&Bs. Many fear this will be the end of tourism in Lorgues should mining company Transports Jean-Louis be granted permission to mine. Sean O’Hare.

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