Anadia Chamber launches public petition against high-speed line construction

The Chamber of Anadia has launched a petition against the Porto-Lisbon high-speed rail line, alleging that the proposed routes are very harmful to the municipality, the mayor said this Friday.

Speaking to Lusa agency, Teresa Cardoso revealed that she is the first supporter of the “No Porto-Lisbon High-Speed ​​Rail Line” petition launched on Thursday as she understands that none of the three alternatives that are on the table are reasonable. for your county.

“It is difficult to make a choice, because we cannot push through the path that is least useful to us in order to harm our neighbor. In fact, these options, between houses or vineyards, are very difficult to decide, since people are in both, and therefore there is damage, especially for people,” he argued.

In his opinion, in addition to the entire social component, these routes also cause “environmental and landscape damage”, also leaving many doubts about the need to make “giant investments”, which “will not bring big profits over time, in the route between Porto and Lisbon with stops in Aveiro and Coimbra.

According to a public petition, this infrastructure is particularly harmful to the parishes of Sangalos, São Lourenco do Bairro and Vilariño do Bairro, as well as to the parish unions of Amoreira da Gandara, Paredes do Bairro and Ancas, Arcos and Mogofores, and also Tamengosh, Aguim. and Is do Bairo.

“The three proposed routes described in the Environmental Impact Study of the aforementioned line have several negative environmental, social and economic impacts on the population and territory, such as land expropriation, demolition of housing, destruction of natural heritage and landscape. of recognized value (e.g. vineyards, aqueducts and aquifers), as well as excessive noise and vibration,” reads the petition, which Lusa had access to.

The document, released on the day that the Municipality of Anadia held an explanatory session on the matter, even requested that the current project be “abandoned”, taking into account that “non-completion of this high-speed line is still possible. in the open.”

According to the Mayor of Anadia, this “heavy attendance” meeting ran until July 31, when a public consultation was held on an environmental impact study regarding a preliminary study of the new Porto-Lisbon high-speed line. , in the section between Aveiro (Oian) and Sure.

“Residents’ biggest concern is with housing, they shared stories of working life so they managed to save some money and build their house and now after these years they are living with the possible possibility of it having to be expropriated or demolished,” he shared.

The cost of the expropriation to be granted was also of greatest concern, as “the proposed values ​​seem to be quite low compared to the current market value”.

“The cost of construction is quite high, so the amount they can get may not even be enough to build a new house or buy another one. And then another question: where to go?” he added.

At the explanatory session, the owners of vineyards, farms and tourist complexes also shared their fears in case of loss of sources of income.

On Thursday evening, the Anadia municipal assembly met for an extraordinary session, which unanimously approved a proposal to reject proposals to lay a high-speed line in the municipality.

The proposal proposed by the Movimento Independente Anadia Primeiro (MIAP), from which Teresa Cardoso was elected, states that “easier and less punitive alternatives for the municipality have not been explored and/or presented by the competent authorities”.

On this occasion, the petition of the Socialist Party on the same subject was also rejected.

Luse socialist André Henrique stated that MIAP rejected the proposal because of its “statement”, however “the end result of both the PS proposal and the proposal presented by MIAP is the same: the rejection of all routes that the LAV project foresees in the environmental impact study phase » for the municipality of Anadia.