Sylvain Griffault, the ecologist mayor of Melle in Deux-Sèvres, is seeking a second term in the March 2026 municipal elections. His town has become a symbol of resistance against megabasins, angering the local Coordination rurale. A recent sabotage by farmers highlights the tensions over this project.
In the night of December 17 to 18, 2025, over a hundred farmers from the Coordination rurale sacked the town of Melle, home to 5,800 residents. About sixty tractors dumped several tons of waste, manure, and tires at various locations, particularly targeting the town hall and the office of deputy Delphine Batho (Génération Ecologie), a candidate for the 2027 presidential election. The Café du Boulevard and the Genellerie farm, gathering spots for the anti-basins movement in Deux-Sèvres, were also hit. The agricultural union acted in revenge against the commitment of ecologist mayor Sylvain Griffault, 52 years old, who is seeking a second term.
Elected in 2020, shortly after the commune's creation by merging five rural villages—Mazières-sur-Béronne, Melle, Paizay-le-Tort, Saint-Léger-de-la-Martinière, and Saint-Martin-lès-Melle—the former artistic director and association manager quickly had the municipal council pass a motion. It opposes the construction of large substitution reservoirs on the Sèvre niortaise watershed, which crosses the Marais poitevin. The opposition concerns not the principle of agricultural irrigation, but the scale of the project led by the Coopérative de l'eau des Deux-Sèvres, seen as having impacts on the local territory.
Griffault's divisive personality has turned Melle into a stronghold of resistance against megabasins, fueling divisions within the farming community.
