Near Montpellier, the high-speed line is too close to their homes: they obtain 420,000 euros in court

Le Domaine de Pascale a été lourdement impacté par la Ligne à grande vitesse. DR – DR

While the administrative court of Montpellier had rejected the request of several owners affected by the LGV, in Saint-Brès, the Court of Appeal of Toulouse ruled in their favor, ordering the company Oc’Via to pay them the sum of 420,000 euros.

Commissioned in 2017, the new high-speed line (LGV) bypassing Nîmes and Montpellier has disrupted the daily lives of some Hérault residents. Starting with these residents of Domaine de Pascale, located between the villages of Saint-Brès and Mudaison, who found themselves 220 meters from the railway line.

They had brought the case before the administrative court of Montpellier, asking that Oc’Via, the company managing the LGV, be condemned. But in a judgment of March 9, 2023, the judges had rejected their request.

The applicants therefore turned to the Toulouse Court of Appeal. On Tuesday, December 3, 2024, the latter annulled the judgment of the administrative body, considering that the owners had suffered serious harm following the installation of the LGV.

Based on the conclusions of an expert report, the Court of Appeal considered that the applicants had suffered noise and visual nuisances exceeding the normal inconveniences that local residents should expect from the vicinity of a public structure.

A nuisance that was all the greater since the rails are raised by a dozen meters above the natural ground, at this location where a bridge was built over the road connecting the two villages.

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In addition to this visual damage, there is also noise damage, as the property's ornamental garden and swimming pool are located only a hundred metres from the tracks.

Favorable appeal for Les Saveurs de Lattes

The Toulouse Court of Appeal has just ruled on another case concerning the LGV.

The Joint Agricultural Exploitation Group (GAEC) “Les Saveurs de Lattes” had requested the administrative court of Montpellier to order Oc’Via to compensate for the damages suffered during the construction of the railway bypass between Nîmes and Montpellier.

By a judgment of March 17, 2022, the administrative court had ordered the company to pay the GAEC the sum of 20,536.53 euros excluding tax. Considering that its damage had not been repaired, “Les Saveurs de Lattes” had brought the case before the Toulouse Court of Appeal.

In a judgment of December 3, the latter considered that the floods suffered by the GAEC on August 23, 2015 were not the consequence of the works to create the LGV. The expert concluded that they had occurred at following exceptional bad weather in an area already recognized as naturally flood-prone.

On the other hand, the Court recognized the right of the farmer to be compensated for his crops destroyed by the dispersion of lime dust from the LGV works.

The amount that Oc’Via will have to pay to the GAEC was increased to 23,381.53 euros excluding tax.

The Court annulled the judgment of the administrative court which ordered the GAEC to finance the costs and fees of the expertise, in the amount of 14,883.88 euros including tax. These will be shared equally between “Les Saveurs de Lattes” and “société Oc’Via.

The estate had lost 25% of its value with the LGV

The Court of Appeal noted that the proximity of the LGV had led to a significant depreciation in the market value of the applicants' property complex given its remarkable nature. The court also compensated them for the loss of earnings, confirmed by an expert report, suffered when they sold their property.

In 2020 and 2021, the owners chose to sell their property complex, with a total surface area of ​​28,496 m2, consisting of a farmhouse dating from 1713, several outbuildings with a living area of ​​335 m2, a swimming pool and a greenhouse.

They sold their property for a total price of 1.3 million euros, which took into account the presence of the LGV. With this, the market value of their property complex had suffered a loss of around 25%, notes an expert.

According to the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Oc’Via will have to pay 420,000 euros in damages to the owners, a sum accompanied by interest at the legal rate from April 29, 2021, and the capitalization of interest from April 29, 2022.

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