Roland Garros: the French Tennis Federation loses a round – Le Point

New brake for the new Roland Garros. The Administrative Tribunal of Paris on Thursday ordered the suspension of construction of a new court in the heart of the Botanical Garden of the Serres d’Auteuil, according to a decision. The execution of the building permit issued by the city of Paris “is suspended until a ruling on the merits of the legality of this decision,” orders the Paris Administrative Court. Heritage protection associations and environmental who filed the complaint declared themselves “strengthened in this regard their work for over five years,” in a statement. They recalled that they had “proposed alternative solutions, respecting the specifications of the FFT expenses and preserving the Garden greenhouses at Auteuil.”

The French Tennis Federation (FFT) said that it would appeal in cassation and “defer to the decision of the State Council.” This ruling relates to permits issued by the City of Paris to the FFT in June, attacked in chambers by associations of opponents to the project, which involves the construction of a short half-buried in the heart of the Garden Serres d’Auteuil, a protected natural site. The hearing was held on March 9. This interruption of work begun in October after an initial three-month suspension. – Ongoing until 31 March- cohosh after another for interim measures on December 18

In this separate case, it is the descendants of Jean-Camille Formigé, the landscape architect emblematic of Paris who designed the Jardin des Serres d’Auteuil in the nineteenth century, which attack the extension project before the high court (TGI) in Paris on behalf of “copyright”. In both cases, disputes will then be judged on its merits, in several months.

The total estimated cost of between 350 and 400 million euros

The FFT in a statement, “deeply regretted to note that (…) despite the unanimous agreement of all official bodies consulted under the instruction of building permits, which sat in number of qualified people and experts on environment, heritage protection, sites and landscapes, the necessary modernization of the Roland Garros stadium slowed by legal actions that delay the advent of a project reconciling the city, sport and nature. ” In view of the project initiated in 2011, the “historical Serres will not be destroyed but fully preserved and the garden adjoining the device will be embellished by the new equipment, as confirmed by the opinion of the architect of the Buildings of France” adds FFT.

the Icomos, Unesco council dedicated to the conservation of monuments and historic sites in the world, assessed on site the project’s impact and found that the site was “seriously threatened in its landscape and botanical integrity,” calling the City of Paris and the FFT to abandon the project.

the Federation is committed to finance 95% of renovating Roland Garros for a total cost of 350 to 400 million euros and said that his tournament generates “each year nearly EUR 300 million of economic benefits to the Paris area and allows the financing of amateur tennis in France.” The associations have warned that “stubbornness” of the FFT on this project might “discredit the Paris bid for the Olympics-2024, opposing sports protecting the environment and heritage.”