In a frank and direct dialogue, Roland Caillaud, president of the association of rural mayors of Indre and mayor of Pouligny-Saint-Pierre, addresses the crucial issues facing rural municipalities, in a context marked by economic challenges and territorial sizes.
What did you think of Gil Avérous’ letter addressed to all the mayors of Indre?
Roland Caillaud: “The letter was unwelcome but despite everything, we rural mayors do not want to argue. In small departments like ours, our interest is to work together and be complementary; on the other hand, you have to be fair. There is still a fundamental problem with vagueness and some take advantage of this to benefit from funding earmarked, initially, towards rural areas. »
What is a rural municipality?
“Insee gives a definition. For us, rural mayors, these are municipalities with less than 3,500 people. Everyone has their own standard and we can’t really find ourselves there. Senator Frédérique Gerbaud wants to try to clear up this vagueness. We need to agree on this term. »
What future for these municipalities?
“I am worried about small municipalities which mainly depend on state funding, due to a lack of their own resources. Municipalities with 300 to 400 inhabitants, a significant proportion of whom are agricultural retirees living on around €1,000 per month, face considerable financial challenges. I am convinced that no politician will decide to eliminate small municipalities but they will self-destruct and dry up due to lack of funding. This is to be expected. This is the purpose of the NOTRe law, which took away powers from municipalities to give them to communities of municipalities. For some, the solution could lie in the development of new sources of income, such as energy production or tourism, in order to boost the local economy. »
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