The population of Vaud will no doubt be able to decide on the future of the hill of Mormont. The popular initiative of the Greens, which aims to include the protection of the site in the Vaud Constitution and to encourage the authorities to emancipate themselves from concrete, has succeeded.
The initiators announced on Monday that they had collected more than 14,500 signatures, when they had to collect 12,000. The formal deposit of signatures, which still have to be validated by the municipalities, is scheduled for Friday, June 3.
The initiative committee is made up of the Greens, the Association for the Safeguarding of Mormont, ProNatura, alternative degrowth, Young Greens, the Socialist Party, Solidarity, the POP and the Socialist Youth. He claims to have combed the entire canton by obtaining signatures in 274 municipalities (out of approximately 300).
The culmination of this initiative is “an important sign for the urgent protection of the hill, which is increasingly eaten away by mechanical shovels to extract the sand and materials needed for the cement still far too much used in construction, despite its heavy toll of emissions harmful to health and the climate”, write the Greens in their press release.
Le Mormont, which overlooks the villages of Eclépens and La Sarraz, has been used since the 1950s as a quarry by the cement manufacturer Holcim. It has been affected by the successive extensions of this exploitation, which go so far as to threaten its summit.
The hill became famous, beyond the borders of Vaud, when it was occupied by the first Zone to be defended in Switzerland (ZAD), between October 2020 and March 2021.
Protected site
Political attempts have also been made to protect the site. A motion by the future State Councilor Vassilis Venizelos was, for example, refused at the end of March by the Grand Council.
The popular initiative “Save Mormont” has succeeded. She asks that the hill be declared a “protected site” in the Vaudois constitution. “Any exploitation of the soil is prohibited there, with the exception of an agricultural and forestry activity that respects the environment and nature,” reads the text of the initiative.
It also asks that the canton and the municipalities promote “the use of building materials that respect the environment and themselves favor the use of such materials instead of cement.”
For the record, the future of Mormont is also currently being played out before the Federal Court. The Birette project, at the top of the hill, is included in a cantonal land use plan (PAC) which has been appealed by environmental associations and individuals. In the event of a positive decision of the TF on the acceptance of the project, the next stages would be the following: clearing, archaeological excavations, stripping of the grounds then exploitation of the rock.
This article has been published automatically. Source: ats