• To say no to the giant warehouse project called Green Dock, on the port of Gennevilliers, a picnic is organized at the initiative of the collective Preservation Berges de Seine.
  • With its 600 meters long and 35 high, the multimodal platform, with a maximum of 15% river freight, opposes environmental activists and promoter of the project, supported by the mayor of Gennevilliers.
  • "Do we really want this mode of development?" says Antoine Gaudin, president of the association Protection Berges de Seine and coordinator of the collective. Are we still in the 1960s, at the time of industrial gigantism, of unconscious development or have we passed into the era of a more measured, more conscious development, which would fit more harmoniously into the natural landscape? »

This Sunday, a rather special picnic takes place in front of the port of Gennevilliers. At the initiative of the collective Preservation Berges de Seine, opponents of the giant warehouse project called Green Dock gather to say no to excess. "A gigantism completely above ground, which does not take into account the urban and natural environment, and which, at the global level, is in total inadequacy with any reasonable industrial development as it must be done at a time of global warming and threats to biodiversity," says Antoine Gaudin, president of the association Protection Berges de Seine and coordinator of the collective.

But why such anger against this multimodal platform? It is part of the projects of Haropa Port, the major river-sea port of the Seine axis, which extends from Le Havre to Paris, via Rouen, to improve last-mile delivery. "It is a real ecological challenge to be able to deliver close to Paris, pleads Patrice Leclerc (PCF), the mayor of Gennevilliers. Thanks to electric vans or barges whereas if we build on agricultural land, we will be forced to deliver by trucks to cross the entire Paris region."

Ecolo or greenwashing?

Green Dock is a warehouse project 600 meters long, "two stadiums of France side by side," says Antoine Gaudin, and 35 meters high (the equivalent of a building of twelve floors), 90,000 m2 spread over four floors, which is to be built on the banks of the Seine, in the port of Gennevilliers. Initially, the building permit was to be filed in January, then in April, June and finally, Patrice Leclerc talks about the end of the year. "The platform is expected to open in 2025-2026," he says. The Australian company Goodman, which won the tender, is counting on a budget of 150 million euros.



"Do we really want this mode of development?" bubbles Antoine Gaudin. Are we still in the 1960s, at the time of industrial gigantism, of unconscious development or have we passed into the era of a more measured, more conscious development, which would fit more harmoniously into the natural landscape? ». Because if the designers of the project, who purposely named it "Green Dock", claim that it is eco-compatible, opponents denounce a barely concealed greenwashing. "The development of transport by the river is smoke and mirrors," says the activist.

Like the mayor of Gennevilliers, who notes that "when a barge replaces 40 to 50 trucks, or even 100, it is much more ecological in terms of pollution", Antoine Gaudin validates the transport of goods by boat. But regrets that for Green Dock precisely, "in the best case, only 15% of goods could transit through the river because the coefficient of rotation of goods through this place would not allow more". This is also the reason, according to him, for which, he speaks of giga road warehouse. "We would not object to a river warehouse there, but one that is much lower and smaller to preserve the Natura 2000 area."

Preserving the Natura 2000 area at all costs

Because the heart of the debate lies in this non-anthropogenic zone, "the first downstream of Paris". Located opposite the banks where Green Dock is to rise, the Natura 2000 area is located on the tip of Île Saint-Denis, on the other side of the Seine. It nests hundreds of large cormorants in winter and is home to European kingfishers, kestrels and bats. "If the project succeeds, these birds, protected by the EU Birds Directive, would have to coexist with a 35-metre-high glass Chinese Wall, which would cut their flight paths, which would be illuminated all night because it would be a warehouse with an extremely high turnover coefficient, and in a constant crash of heavy goods vehicles," exclaims the coordinator of the collective Preservation Berges de Seine.

On this aspect, Patrice Leclerc agrees: out of the question for him to destroy this "natural jewel". "The main point of attention is not to affect the Natura 2000 area opposite. This is the whole point of the consultation carried out elsewhere, says the edile. The developer, by agreeing to remove the planned greenhouse on the roof, which makes it possible to lower the construction by five meters". "It's greenwashing," denounces Antoine Gaudin. The greenhouse on the roof was the culmination of the absurdity of Goodman's project. Just the opportunity to say "we will grow fruits and vegetables in an air saturated with trucks and exhaust fumes to make up Green Dock as an ecological project".

Uncompromising opposition

At the town hall of Gennevilliers, the tone is more measured. "The project leaders still have to work to prevent light and noise from passing on the other side of the Seine, that's for sure," admits Patrice Leclerc. But using already mineralized areas, such as the port of Gennevilliers, to densify them in economic activities, without touching agricultural land, is in ecological continuity."

On the other hand, for the representative of the collective Preservation Berges de Seine, Goodman's inflexibility to negotiate on the dimensions of the building is the main problem. "We call for the withdrawal of the project in its current form to take into account this important biodiversity corridor, and not just repaint the façade green." Neither is glass, the transparency of the walls is also a major danger for birds. Who in the meantime will be able to peck at the remains of picnic.

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