Sit-in protestors ready for showdown at new French airport site
After Prime Minister Manuel Valls pledged this week to begin evacuation of the site of France's contested "Great West" airport near Nantes in north-west France, militant ecologists, anti-capitalism activists, and local inhabitants occupying the earmarked land are preparing for a showdown with anti-riot police.
EnvironmentalEnvironmental activists living in cabins and tree houses on the site of a proposed new airport outside Nantes in western France braced on Wednesday for a looming showdown with security forces after the prime minister said clearing the zone was a priority, reports Reuters.
Opponents of the Aéroport du Grand Ouest say the 580-million-euro ($637 million) project is too costly, will damage the environment and is unnecessary given Nantes already has an airport. They count ecologists, anarchists, punks and communists among their ranks.
The development has stoked tensions within the socialist government six months ahead of a presidential election, with environment minister Ségolène Royal leading calls for the airport to be scrapped.
However, Prime Minister Manuel Valls said he would press on with the project after people in the Loire-Atlantique region voted in favor of the scheme in June.
