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APEI Press Agency
Published on
Jan 21, 2025 at 6:32 a.m.
The “Living in Conques” association is not ready to lay down her arms. Created in January 2024 to defend the interests of residents, it intends to bring its fight to its conclusion: that for the independence of Conques (Aveyron), historic commune of Conques-en-Rouergue. This medieval jewel of the department is stamped Most Beautiful Villages of France.
As a reminder, since 2016, Conques has been associated with the new commune from Conques-en-Rouergue with Grand-Vabre, Christmas et Saint-Cyprien-sur-Dourdou, municipalities say of the valley. Even at the time, this grouping was not to the taste of those administered, according to the association. Nearly 10 years after this forced marriage, the pill has still not passed…
A second majority petition
In a press release, the inhabitants of Conques, grouped within the association, ask “the public authorities to give back to the municipality control of [son] fate “. They filed, a year later, the second majority petition required by law.
“The historic commune of Conques was the subject of a merger in 2016 with the communes of the valley (Saint-Cyprien, Grand-Vabre and Noailhac), against the advice of its populationby committing to protecting their fundamental interests,” recalls the association.
Except that for the association, and that's an understatement, the account is not there. “None of the commitments of the merger charter were respected and eight years of practice of the new municipality, without any serious dialogue with the inhabitants, consisted of selling more than 2000 m² of the public heritage of Conques, including its town hall, to move the capital (what Occitanie News was echoed at the time)“, she emphasizes.
A feeling of abandonment
The grievances of “Vivre à Conques” do not stop there since, according to the association, these eight years of operation of the new commune also consisted of “in reduce maintenance work , to reduce cultural activities and to capture tourism resources for the benefit of a local transit strategy which does not prevent the continued decline in attendanceet of the national image of Conques noted by local actors,” she lists again.
The example of the renovation project of the Conques tourist office
This is one of the problems raised by “Living in Conques”. Currently located at Canon Benazech, at the arrival of the GR65, on the road to Santiago de Compostela, the Conques tourist office must move to the premises of the former mayor. On the occasion of the launch of the renovation project, the association indicates “that if the dilapidation of the current premises fully justifies the renovation of the tourist reception offices, the choice of the building, to the detriment of the town hall of Conques and its exhibition hall, the exorbitant cost of the expenditure, the dilution of the image of Conques and the attendance hypotheses, never communicated, would have deserved a local dialogue and studies shared with the economic actors of Conques with a view to promoting a vision consensual and long term.
-Far from being discouraged, the Conquois intend to puff out their chests and state their ambitions for their commune: “The inhabitants have decided to react by equipping themselves with a vision of the future of Conques, so that it becomes a cultural station of national interestet European which must attract stay tourismand enhance its assets, such as the path to Compostelahis treasure, the stained glass windows of Soulages, its craftsmen to bring about the arrival of new workers and promote local economic dynamics. »
The association “Vivre à Conques” is today the spokesperson for Conquois and drives home the point: “The majority of residents today are convinced that we must learn lessons from the failure of the merger and ask the public authorities to give them back control of their destiny, as authorized by article 2112-2 of the general code of local authorities in terms of detachment from municipalities. »
Launching a public inquiry
They were more than a third of the electorate to deposit a petition in this sense in December 2023and they renewed to 45% this demand in 2024 . The petition has just been submitted to the prefectural services.
“This approach will allow public authorities to trigger the public inquiry and the election of a commission to rule on the return of Conques to its administrative autonomy, essential to its renewal,” the association said.
Finally, the residents “took note of the contradiction of interests between basins et the valleydont the characteristics are totally differenteven if they remain attached to intercommunal cooperation actions.
In their quest for autonomy, the Conquois grouped within Vivre à Conques now say they are organized “to take initiatives for study, partnerships and the revival of local life, with the support of all “lovers of Conques” […]in order to rebuild a site with considerable cultural and human assets which must become a national center of attraction, in Aveyron. »
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