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- 1. Worker drilling a plane tree at the Château de La Barben
Photo: La Tribune de l’Art - See the image in its page
3/6/24 - Heritage - Château de La Barben - In La Barben, the Rocher Mistral company continues to break the law, despite all the legal proceedings in progress and with almost total impunity. This does not prevent the prefect and sub-prefect from supporting the company, which is becoming more scandalous by the day. We can legitimately wonder how far this never-ending affair will go.
This time the new scandal concerns the trees. Not only the line of plane trees between the garden and the kitchen garden, but also the sequoia in the garden. All these trees are classified as historic monuments. They are therefore considered by law to be historic monuments in their own right. And so, as soon as they are affected by any works, authorisation must be obtained from the DRAC.
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- 2. Plane tree with a spotlight
nailed into its trunk
Photo: La Tribune de l’Art - See the image in its page
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- 3. Plane tree with a spotlight
nailed into its trunk
Photo: La Tribune de l’Art - See the image in its page
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- 4. Plane tree with a spotlight
nailed into its trunk
Photo: La Tribune de l’Art - See the image in its page
In the case of the plane trees, this involved planting floodlights in their trunks and connecting them with cables. As for the great sequoia, it has been the victim of the same barbaric treatment, in order to fix a platform to it. Such treatment damages and weakens the trees, threatening their very survival.
The photos of the workers drilling the plane trees (ill. 1), and those showing the result (ill. 2 to 4) bear witness to the violence of the operation. As for the sequoia, the images posted on Facebook (ill. 5 to 7) by the company in charge of the work speak for themselves. As no authorisation was sought, this work is illegal. And it obviously wouldn’t have been allowed by the DRAC if it had been consulted, we can at least hope. Vianney d’Alençon and Rocher Mistral have a long tradition of going through the motions: they carry out unauthorised work, and then cry persecution when they ask for the work to be regularised, which never happens.
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- 5. Photos posted on the Facebook page
of the company Accros Concept - See the image in its page
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- 6. One of the photos taken by Accros Concept showing a worker on the redwood.
- See the image in its page
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- 7. Photo: from Accros Concept
showing the hanging system
with nails in the redwood trunk - See the image in its page
Once again, the DRAC has nevertheless done its job, as an official report was drawn up by a sworn officer who was able to record this vandalism, and forwarded it to the public prosecutor in Aix-en-Provence. Article 322-2-1 of the French Criminal Code states: ‘Destruction, damage or deterioration is punishable by seven years’ imprisonment and a €100,000 fine when it concerns : 1. An immovable or movable object classified or inscribed under the provisions of the Heritage Code [...]’.
The public prosecutor must now give this case the judicial follow-up it deserves.
Rocher Mistral’s financial backers (the Dassault family and Vincent Montagne in particular), the prefect and sub-prefect who are supporting it in an unworthy manner, and the département and region which have granted it subsidies, must understand once and for all that this will eventually backfire on them. As for the visitors who come to this château, they need to know how this theme park, which destroys our heritage and natural environment, works.