This tourist site in Vendée is closing and will be transformed into a town hall

Site dedicated to the nature and its biodiversity and nestled in right in the heart of the village of Chaillé-sous-Les Ormeauxdelegated municipality of Rives-de-l'Yon in Vendée, the Dragonfly House has definitely ceased its activity last December 31. As revealed by the daily Ouest-France, the SPL Destination La Roche-sur-Yon, the tourist office for the Yonnais area which has managed the site since its opening in 2006, has decided not to renew its operating agreement .

A decision that does not surprise. For several years, the question of viability from the House of Dragonflies was posedthe site not having never really found its audience.

An opportunity for the community

This decision was quickly analyzed as a opportunity to seize for the municipality from Rives-de-l’Yon. “We immediately applied to take over the Maison des libellules in order to prevent it from becoming a wasteland,” explains Christophe Hermouet, mayor of Rives-de-l’Yon. With already an idea of ​​its reconversion in mind. “For more than a year, we no longer had a town hall in Chaillé. The school located right next door ended up with a 5^e class at the start of the 2023 school year. But it did not have sufficient premises. We therefore chose to welcome this new class in the council room of Chaillé town hall,” explains the mayor. Pushing the agents and services of the delegated municipality to join their colleagues at the town hall of Saint-Florent-des-Bois, the other municipality of Rives-de-l'Yon. “This created an imbalance in the provision of services, with the inhabitants of Chaillé being forced to travel to Saint-Florent for their procedures,” recognizes Christophe Hermouet.

A temporary lease

Former presbytery bought by the community of communes of Pays Yonnais, the site dating from the 18th century^e for part and the 19th century^e century, is a little architectural gem in the heart of the town center of Chaillé. An ideal location to imagine the new town hall. “These are 1,700 m² of buildings surrounded by a 2-hectare meadow and which was estimated at €1.20 million by the Estates department,” indicates Christophe Hermouet. A property too expensive for Rives-de-l'Yon to be able to buy back, she who has just come out of a complicated financial situation. “Although our finances have recovered, it is not possible to buy the site at La Roche Agglo, we do not have the means,” confirms Christophe Hermouet.

A other solution was nevertheless found with La Roche agglomeration. ” A rental agreement between the municipality and the Agglo will be signed. It will initially be a six-year lease with a rent of €3,000», Announces the elected official.

This is a temporary solution. Our objective is to obtain a long lease for a period of 40 years in order to ultimately reduce the cost of rent.

A site open to room rental

More than a town hall, the rooms of the Maison des Libellules will also be made available to associations. But not only that. “We have the opportunity to bring something more to the population by offering rooms for rental to individualsfor birthdays, weddings, or even companiesfor seminars, training. These rentals will also allow us to reduce the new cost that the Maison des libellules represents for the municipality.”

An annex town hall in March

The inhabitants of Chaillé will therefore be able to find a town hall “by March”indicates Christophe Hermouet. The Maison des Libellules does not require any special work to accommodate municipal agents. “There are offices on the ground floor and upstairs which will allow us to quickly transfer five agents there permanently. The goal is to open half a day each day, in the morning or afternoon,” explains the mayor. Two human resources agents and three agents from the communications and events department who manage, among other things, the municipality's cultural season will therefore be transferred. “During the week, we also plan two days with a civil status service and three for town planning, which will once again allow residents to carry out their procedures from their municipality. »

The Maison des Libellules will not, however, completely lose its original vocation. “When we talk about cessation of activity, we are talking about the permanent exposure of the site which stops. But the Agglomerate tourist office will continue to offer activities around the garden of the Maison des libellules in the summer. And we, locally, will take advantage of the site to establish and develop our own cultural season,” underlines Christophe Hermouet.

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