Dijon: Ransacking at l’Engrenage

Very early this Tuesday morning, a police force accompanied by an armada of construction machines was deployed to devastate the land on Avenue de Langres that had been occupied for almost a year.
Several bulldozers, excavators, trucks and the DESERTOT company’s manitou were mobilized to try to put an end to the gardens, as well as loggers who were in charge of cutting down the trees.
The municipality deploys the great means. Flowers, blades of grass, everything goes. The will is clear: nothing must remain of what can look like greenery.
This ransacking operation comes at the beginning of spring, whereas for weeks the gardeners had been working to make this place an open and shared place of passage between the residents.

The house located in the middle of the gardens remains protected by a court decision, and will not be evicted today (unless the cops decide to illegally force their way in). It is thanks to the presence of the inhabitants in this house that the alert was given early in the morning. The call relayed by friendly neighbors allowed people to converge in solidarity from the first minutes. They tried to block the construction machines by overtaking the police force that had just been set up. Some people were thus able to reach the house to defend it, while several others climbed on the roof of the house. [Read More]

Dijon: Justice orders the eviction of the Engrenage Gardens in 6 months!

Press release from the Engrenage Gardens

Since June 17, 2020, we occupy a wasteland renamed “Les Jardins de l’Engrenage“, avenue de Langres in Dijon, to prevent the real estate development of 307 housing units “Garden State”, which plans the destruction of this precious natural space.
Without ever having visited the land to appreciate its soil qualities and the dynamic life created in the neighborhood, the Mayor of Dijon launched in August 2020 a legal procedure to evict the gardeners and occupants of the house located on the plot. After having pronounced in November 2020 the eviction of the gardens only (still suspended), the Dijon Court of Justice has just rules its judgment this Friday, March 19, 2021 concerning the occupied house: the judge pronounces an eviction order but grants the occupants a 6-month delay to leave the premises.
We take note of this decision: for us, each day, each week, each month gained in this fight against the destruction of nature, is a victory against adversity. Gardeners at the Engrenage, Dijon residents protecting this space, we will take advantage of the next 6 months to root ourselves even more solidly in this land that we take care of, just like the vegetables that will grow there for a new season in the collective vegetable garden and the allotment gardens. [Read More]

Dijon: Engrenage Gardens under threat. Vegetables and trees are rooted, they will not leave.

The decision of the Dijon court has confirmed the eviction of the land occupied by the Engrenage Gardens as of November 20. The house is not affected by this decision. Despite the headlines in the local press suggesting that the case is closed, the vegetables are growing, the gardeners are gardening and the walkers are wandering around!

After the October hearing, the court handed down its verdict on November 4. According to the local press (le Bien Public). “The court noted the occupation without right or title of the land located between 45 and 65 avenue de Langres and ordered their eviction within fifteen days if necessary with the help of the police force. The court, however, declared itself incompetent with respect to the occupation of the small house. » [Read More]

Dijon: attempt to evict the Engrenage Gardens

Early this Friday morning, the occupants of the Engrenage Gardens were woken up by municipal police officers and three backhoe loaders that had been sent to ravage the vegetable gardens. The rapid arrival of supporters allowed them to stop the advance of the machines. The protagonists’ account of the events.

Waking up this morning, to the sound of the “beep-beep” of the bulldozers. Astonishment to discover the Jardins de l’Engrenage, surrounded by the barriers and the police. The beans, the tomatoes (already red!): crushed, the branches of the trees: torn off, the hedges: crushed. The brutality of the machines, facing the thorns of the brambles.

Sponsored by whom? Why was it ordered? The city? The property developer? Nobody on the spot wants to answer our questions. No one to dialogue except the police force and the steel of the machines.

So we’re holding. Together. We hang on, we climb, we watch. We call friends and neighbors. Yesterday they were there for the market, and since June 17, 2020, to share around these gardens a moment of music or petanque… Today we saw tears in their eyes. Since the taking of this land how many gardening tips, crafts and small services have been exchanged; how many stories around this neighborhood and the lives of its inhabitants! So we resist, again. [Read More]

Dijon: Land occupation on Avenue de Langres

Statement from the June 17 Collective – Land occupation in Dijon as part of the June 17 appeal against the repeated intoxication of the world!

Today wednesday June 17th 2020, despite the rain, we were nearly four hundred people to demonstrate from the Place de la République to the abandoned plot located at 63 avenue de Langres. Armed with spades and pitchforks, the participants were able to clear the land to make gardens, set up new meeting and breathing spaces in the heart of the neighbourhood, plant vegetables, debate the common future on this land and beyond, or share a meal.

This land is threatened by a real estate project carried by the council which, with a great deal of “greenwashing” communication, is trying to impose yet another useless urban plan. According to the INSEE, there are more than 6000 vacant homes in the commune of Dijon alone. Except for the municipality – which wants to grow at all costs to establish its status as a “metropolis” – for whom is it a priority to have more new housing? [Read More]