The situation is becoming tense in Lyon.

For the past ten years or so, we have known that the two cemeteries in the metropolis, located in Bron and Rillieux-la-Pape, will reach saturation point.

Since then, the population has grown by 10% in ten years to reach nearly 1.4 million inhabitants, which represents around 10,000 deaths per year, according to the most recent figures from INSEE.

Building a new cemetery therefore becomes "very, very urgent: if nothing is done, in seven or eight years we would have to tell families to go to Isère or elsewhere" to bury their loved ones, warns Vice-President EELV. of the metropolis, Zémorda Khelifi, in charge of the file.

A speech difficult to hold to the citizens of Lyon.

Problem, while several sites have been identified for the new project, "nobody wants to see a cemetery under their windows".

A #Charly a hundred people gathered against the @grandlyon cemetery project pic.twitter.com/6HX9QlzNB0

- Lyon Mag (@lyonmag) September 5, 2021

An almost paradoxical observation given the urgency of the situation.

In Charly, a rural town of 4,500 inhabitants south of Lyon, banners were deployed and some even planted crosses in front of their houses.

In many town halls, the cemetery is a sensitive subject, on the border between politics and privacy.

The place continues to convey a sinister image, which would be unbearable to see in the long run.

The Charly site is however the one that “stands out the best” for Zémorda Khelifi, because it meets criteria such as public transport service or the quality of the soil.

The mayor of the town, Olivier Araujo, denounces for his part a "unilateral and uncoordinated decision" and refuses to "sacrifice 140,000 m2 of agricultural land".

A consultation was therefore put in place by the metropolis, to put the matter back flat.

A vegetated cemetery with a "large biodiversity"

To better convince, the metropolis ensures that only “six hectares will be occupied” initially, the eight other pre-empted “will be able to continue to accommodate agricultural activities” for thirty years.

Another argument is that of a “more virtuous” cemetery model, giving pride of place to “revegetation”, with “wide biodiversity” thanks to the development of a pond and undergrowth.

Elected environmentalists would also like to go towards cardboard coffins, which degrade more easily, but also towards "new methods of burial" such as cremation.

But Lyon is not the only French metropolis to suffer from the saturation of its cemeteries.

In Paris, the 14 intramural sites have been full for a long time, forcing Parisians to be buried in the suburbs.

The only alternative to the construction of a new site, which would cost the Lyon metropolis around 8 million euros, is the resumption of concessions in existing cemeteries.

However, the process is also long and expensive, and is carried out on a case-by-case basis.

Not sure that this is enough in the face of demographic pressure.

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  • Graveyard

  • Europe Ecology The Greens (EELV)

  • Lyon