Edit: Ignore all of the below, the mayor has announced that CdMB canny build a road up through either Lavancher or from Les Tines. Does this mean that community action works….
I wrote a while ago that the CdMB were proposing to create an access road through the Lavancher village and along the line of the current MTB track from Grand Montets to facilitate the new Plan Joran chairlift. Unsurprisingly there was a lot of local concern about this, as Lavancher village wasn’t built with large lorries in mind, and the new track would destroy the existing small trail.
Since then there has been some more local action, with a Facebook site (http://www.facebook.com/groups/237899679659718/) and online petition (http://www.petitions24.net/non_a_la_route_a_camions_du_lavancher_a_la_croix_de_lognan) created to help the community of Chamonix voice their concern.
So far the voices are being listened to, and Mayor Eric Fournier has asked CdMB to present a better case for the creation of a new road instead of the alternative options of using the existing access road, goods lift and helicopters.
The new chair will be built, but hopefully it won’t require the huge disruption to a small village, destruction of lots of natural forest habitat and, less importantly, the loss of one of the best official bike tracks in the valley.
