“As long as there are no signs, there will be no fines”: the implementation of the ZFE in Montpellier remains unclear

The elected officials of the Metropolis who are requesting a moratorium on the ZFE, as they leave the prefecture. MIDI LIBRE – DORIAN CAYUELA

Elected officials of the Metropolis went to meet the secretary general of the Hérault prefecture to get explanations on the controls during the implementation of the Low Emission Zone (ZFE) from January 1st.

The mayors of Castelnau-le-Lez, Pérols, Saint-Brès and the Montpellier opposition elected official and former minister Patricia Mirallès went to the prefecture on Monday, December 9. With the ambition of having answers on the conditions for implementing the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) which is due to come into force on January 1, 2025. The date on which the most polluting and oldest vehicles (Crit’Air 3 and above stickers) must be excluded from Montpellier and ten surrounding municipalities, unless there is an exemption.

“We wanted to know how the rules were applied, particularly regarding fines and checks which are the responsibility of the State”, summarizes Laurent Jaoul, mayor of Saint-Brès. Frédéric Lafforgue, Mayor of Castelnau-le-Lez asks if “on January 2nd, is it possible for a Crit’Air 3 person to be fined ?”.

“We need to get the elected officials back around the table”

And it was the Secretary General of the Prefecture, Frédéric Poisot, who received the elected officials and provided answers on behalf of the State: “In short, as long as there are no signs warning that you are entering a ZFE, it is impossible to implement a fine”, explains Frédéric Lafforgue. Elected officials who, like Jean-Pierre Rico, mayor of Pérols, are asking for “clarity. And above all, time to prepare”. A request for a moratorium that could be examined by the Metropolitan Council on Tuesday, December 10: “When we vote on a law, we must apply it. But we must begin a calm approach in a territory that is a zone of vigilance. We must get back around the table”, assures Patricia Mirallès.

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“We are reassured without being reassured”, says Frédéric Lafforgue who regrets the general vagueness surrounding the implementation of the ZFE in a context of crisis that does not help matters. “What do you say to a person who brings a person to the hospital and who is Crit'Air 3 and who benefits from an exemption. They get a ticket and then they contest it ?” Continuation of the debate this Tuesday in public session…

Alenka Doulain also calls for a moratorium

In a press release, the metropolitan opposition councillor (Mupes) Alenka Doulain also calls for a moratorium “to rethink the implementation of ZFE around transparent, equitable and truly ecological criteria”. Like the metropolitan mayors, she does not dispute the need to take into account air pollution “responsible for 48,000 premature deaths”, but refuses to see the poorest households penalized: “The people of Montpellier are in doubt and anxiety. They do not know if their vehicles are affected or how to finance a replacement. The current majority has failed. It is time to provide fair and concrete answers”, she denounces.

For her part, she proposes a clear roadmap for 2024-2027. From a vast “citizen convention” to co-construct the project in 2025, to an aid program in 2026 to change vehicles in order to obtain from 2027 a “redefined, fair and socially acceptable ZFE”.

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