Our village is under threat
Alpes-Maritimes, 11th of September
Six
hundred habitants, residents, of our old village are living under a threat by the French
Government's plan to compulsory purchase their homes, to demolish them. The Environment Ministry have decided that there
is a chance of a catastrophic landslide happening in the near future.Back in November 1926, nineteen people died when
mud slid down the nearby mountain on top of people's maisons, homes, whilst they slept. A
new village was built on the other side of the Vésubie river, but gradually life returned to normal back in
le vieux village, the old village.
Saving the village
The
villagers are up in arms, and have started to fight back to save their homes from destruction. They have formed a
defence committee, and working with the local council they have come up with an alternative suggestion to drain the
dangerous wet slopes, and install an early electronic warning system. They hired six independent experts, who have shown
a way how they can save the village at a fraction of the suggested cost of £20 million of the states' re-housing
scheme.
Living in linguistic oblivion
Everyone
had been talking about this for a number of weeks, but not speaking fluent enough French Ashley and I were unaware of
the problem. It was not until we were at a neighbour's house for dinner that we found out. They asked us if they could
stay in one of our apartments if they were evacuated. Two weeks ago there was a meeting at the local town hall, but we
felt it was best just to sit down with someone, and talk slowly and thoroughly through everything. Having 600 people all
shouting to be heard would have been impossible.
The good
news for us is that our house is not within the compulsory purchase boundary, but it does affect nos
voisins et amis, our neighbours and friends. Saying this, if the landslide happened we might not be able to
get out of our driveway, as it would cover the road at the bottom.We are upset that we did not know about this before we
bought the house, as the government had apparently been thinking about it for many years. It has just come to a head
now. At present, we are taking it one day at a time and asking as many questions as possible.
Sent by: Janie
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