In the heart of Dijon, squatters created in 2010 the “Libre des Lentillères”, where they defend a freed life of market logics. The Ministry of the Interior sees in this “only Zad Urban in France” a home for “dispute”, which the town hall threatens to expel.
Not far from the rich mansions of the historic city center, an island of dense vegetation is barely discovered.
In this surprising jungle, a labyrinth of trails leads to a disparate habitat: huts with hesitant architecture; old squatted buildings; Caravans taken from mold.
“Welcome to the Lentillères free district”, announces a panel invaded from Lierre.
“We are a hundred”, evaluates “Tristan” (assumed first name), 31, who has lived there “for ten years”. “I had no accommodation. I settled here by necessity, but also by choice: I wanted to participate in the fight against a destructive project,” he said to AFP.
In March 2010, activists invest these former market gardeners, where residents still cultivate small ties, to prevent a real estate project from 1,400 dwellings.
Over the years, the 8 hectare site is equipped to live in autarky: a bread oven, a vegetable garden, a “canteen at free prices” and a “poop bar” (dry toilets).
“But we do not claim the status of ZAD”, specifies Tristan in reference to “zones to be defended”, the most famous of which was set up by opponents of the airport project in Notre-Dame-des-Landes. “We are a self-managed neighborhood,” he preferred.
“And united,” adds “Camille”, 32, for the lentilères for five years: many occupants who work, financially help those in need.
“Anyway, we need very little because we recycle, we eat our own vegetables,” she explains. “It is a viable economic model. We have proven it”.
“We all live together: families, exiles …”, she adds. “We welcome here those who do not get into the boxes,” confirms Tristan.
– Ultimatum –
In November 2019, the occupants of the lentilères obtained the partial abandonment of the real estate project but the town hall continues to claim their “regularization”.
It is true that the existence of this non-law area in the middle of Dijon is bad for the mayor then, François Rebsamen, a Macron-compatible socialist who seeks to become Minister (it will be made at the end of 2014 for regional planning).
Accentuating the pressure, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, announced in 2023 no longer tolerating “no ZAD”.
According to him, the lens are the “only Zad Urban in France” and are among 42 sites likely to “give birth to extremely violent disputes”.
Dijon needs housing “, adds socialist Nathalie Koenders, who became mayor after the appointment of Mr. Rebsamen to government. “We have 1,000 requests pending,” she said. It therefore relaunches a real estate project, of 60 dwellings this time, on 1.14 hectare of the ZAD.
“We will not build on the rest,” she promises AFP, provided that the occupants “legalize” their situation, for example by creating an association which would sign a lease with the town hall. “I reach out. But I give them an ultimatum until October. Otherwise, it will be expulsion,” warns the mayor.
Ms. Koenders denounces in particular “deplorable” living conditions. She admits that she never entered the ZAD but as proof of it a fire that occurred last January.
According to the first deputy of the mayor, Antoine Hoareau, who had gone there, the fire revealed a “real slum”, “far from the idyllic vision” conveyed by the occupants.
The Zadists have still not stopped their response to the town hall, saying having “need time”, according to Tristan.
In the quest for a solution, it will also be necessary to count on the hundred residents who cultivate a small garden with lentilères and are also against its “concrete”.
“No, I don’t want them to build,” Roland Garrot, 77, tells strawberry in his vegetable garden. “I have been here for about 40 years, before the free neighborhood. Since they settled, I have never had a problem.”
