The mobilization of residents and the Sauer Nature associations, chaired by Jean Tyman from Biblisheim, and Peaceful Villages, chaired by Valérie Dennler from Walbourg, came about by chance: if a resident, who was also opposed to the project, had not seen it posted in the town hall and had not spoken about it, the representatives of the two associations would have known nothing about it.
“It’s borderline to discuss such a sensitive subject only through billboards,” considers Pierre Berenbach, a resident who moved to Durrenbach in September, “for its landscapes” and whose house overlooks the antenna directly. “The antenna will be located on the municipal border of Walbourg but it will be closer as the crow flies to the houses of Biblisheim and Durrenbach, of which the mayors have not been informed. »
A settlement planned between two protected areas
Indeed, the antenna must be installed on private land, near a transformer, at the crossroads between the RD772 which links Walbourg to Biblisheim and Grand-rue de Durrenbach. Which places it 222 m from the first house in Biblisheim, 250 m from that in Durrenbach and 394 m from that in the Walbourg housing estate.
The site chosen at a place called Obere Nachtweid is the highest in the surrounding area. The project provides for the operator Orange to install a 32 m high lattice antenna, with a slightly wider base, on which six transmitters will be attached.
“This will disfigure the landscape, the idyllic setting. Everyone is attached to the prairies. The antenna will be twice as high as the trees,” continues Pierre Berenbach, who says he speaks on behalf of disgruntled residents and not just for himself.
One more incomprehension for the nature defense associations, Peaceful Villages and Sauer Nature. “The antenna will be wedged between two Natura 2000 sites, one for conservation and the other for protection. We are only a few meters from a prohibited zone, where small wildlife, insects and frogs live,” explains Valérie Dennler, president of Villages Pacifiques.
Final argument: there would be no study that could guarantee the health of residents near such an installation. “No study exists: we do not know at the health level if there is a long-term risk with the accumulation of new frequencies with current ones,” adds Pierre Berenbach.
Associations and residents fear that other operators will add their transmitters to the future antenna. “As 5G waves have short ranges, it will necessarily be necessary, given the distances, to install additional relay antennas,” fears Jean Tyman. “If we chose to live in the countryside, it’s precisely to be sheltered from all this stuff,” adds his wife Marie-Rose, a member of the association.
500 signatures collected against the project
At the end of October, associations and residents having only one week left of the planned month to react, 16 volunteers, four from Biblisheim, six from Walbourg and as many from Durrenbach mobilized to collect in three days 494 signatures opposed to the implementation project. Signatures they gave to the mayor of Walbourg, Francis Schneider, on November 7. “We hope that there will be a consultation,” says Jean Tyman.
Francis Schneider, who does not wish to speak, did not tell us whether the project had been validated or if it is still on hold. The sole decision-maker, according to our information, he asked the prefectural authority to bring together the departmental consultation body provided for by the Postal and Electronic Communications Code (CPCE) in order to carry out mediation. However, this body can only be brought together for projects falling under the New Deal Mobile. It is therefore not competent for this project which does not fall within it. Likewise, the State is not competent to comment on whether or not the establishment of this installation is appropriate.
According to the elements of the file submitted by the operator and available for consultation at the Walbourg town hall, the work should be completed by mid-January (it had not yet started at the end of December) for commissioning scheduled for mid-March 2026.
