Arcachon basin: the disarray of the last owners of the Pilat dune soon to be expropriated

There are approximately 170 owners, spread over 206 plots which cover 400 hectares of dune and forest. Initially, the Conservatoire owned 30 hectares. He has already bought 268 hectares after a very long process of several years. The public utility of this large format acquisition was stopped in 2016 and it was followed by the plot survey to identify all the owners, then buy the land. “We are entering the finalization period. Everything should be finished, as well as the expropriations, at the beginning of 2023”, confirms the regional delegate of the Conservatoire du littoral.

The stars of Chez Tintin

There are 134 hectares left to bring into the fold of the public establishment. Most owners have agreed to sell, often at a very low price, usually below 1 euro per square meter, and a few euros per square meter for other land. But some, five or six, have been resisting on their own for six years, with their lawyers. Their fight is above all emotional. What they want: to stay!

“There is something wrong with this management. I don’t understand the logic and I don’t see the equality. »

The beautiful house of Didier Bouzats, his main residence, is the former Chez Tintin inn, which closed to the public six years ago and which he ran for decades following his father and his grand- dad. The latter, named Augustin, had bought this 26-hectare land to make resin.

It is reached by a path close to the current parking lot of the dune. Ideally located out of sight and in a unique setting surrounded by nature, this modest bistro became, after the war and until its closure, a restaurant known and appreciated by locals and many personalities. Alain Delon, the Princess of Monaco, Jean Reno, Bernard Blier, the actors of “Camping”, three presidents, Prime Ministers and ministers came there. Didier Bouzats carefully guards the guestbook which tells this story, like the keys to a heritage. But he also spends hours and nights searching the Internet, in all the texts, for solutions to avoid expropriation.

“Leaving this site is extremely hard. I completely understand the idea of ​​protecting nature. I understand the principle of managing the dune and the surrounding forest very well, but there is something wrong with this management. I don’t understand the logic and I don’t see the equality. The boss of Chez Tintin alludes to the fact that some owners have been able to keep their cabin and a plot along the road, that another north of the site has managed to build two buildings on his plot and that he will not leave not. “I am told about the advance of the dune, but I have 480 meters to its foot. On the other hand, his house is closer to the shops and the car park. Didier Bouzats wonders if the Conservatory does not want to keep Chez Tintin to do something with it…

Resin tree hut

This question is somewhat the same further south, near Petit-Nice beach. Here, the dune approaches the road and the beautifully renovated and modernized 64 m² wooden treehouse of the Belliard family. Their land of 7,332 m² borders the departmental road and is only a few tens of meters from the foot of the mountain of sand. The son has lived there as his main residence for two years and does not work very far. But he will also, normally, be obliged to leave in a few weeks, after the purchase of the land by the Conservatory for a very modest price.