Just over 10 days after launching its petition, the citizens' group protesting against the choice of site for the regional composting platform has managed to collect almost 500 signatures.

"We started the petition on October 5 and already we have 479 signatories," confirms Mélanie Pilon, spokesperson for the group and a resident of Chemin Saint-Antoine, where the MRC plans to build the platform. 

Along with two other committed citizens, Ms. Pilon is canvassing the municipalities of Saint-Télesphore, Saint-Polycarpe and Rivière-Beaudette to raise awareness.

"Our primary objective with the petition is to focus on Saint-Télesphore to get our municipality to step back. But we'd like to be able to collect what we need to get Rivière-Beaudette to back off too. We'd give them a copy to prove that social acceptability isn't there," adds Ms. Pilon. 

"We'd like to have at least 300 signatures for Saint-Télesphore. According to the 2021 census, there are 755 residents in Saint-Télesphore, and of these, 595 are over the age of 15. With 300 signatures, we can demonstrate that there is no social acceptability. At present, we have 266 signatures," continues the spokeswoman.

On September 21, the Vaudreuil-Soulanges MRC announced that it had taken steps to acquire two lots at the end of Chemin Saint-Antoine, in Saint-Télesphore, for a composting platform. 

"We're not against the project. What bothers us is the choice of site and the fact that we were not consulted from the start of the process," Ms. Pilon told Néomédia. 

Still at an embryonic stage, with studies to be carried out by the Ministère de l'Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques de la Faune et des Parcs (MELCCFP), many citizens are concerned about the project. 

Since the MRC's announcement, the municipalities of Saint-Polycarpe, Sainte-Justine-de-Newton and Coteau-du-Lac have passed resolutions asking the MRC to reconsider the choice of site.

Information meetings are planned by the MRC team in the coming weeks. At the time of writing, however, no dates had been set. 

People interested in signing the petition can contact Mélanie Pilon via social networks. "People can write to me and I'll come and meet them," she concludes.

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