FACT OF THE DAY In Saint-Hippolyte-du-Fort, an architect would like to see the 93 fountains classified

“Fountains are a magical subject in the family. I started in connection with the history of the work of the Plan, which had pissed me off.” The home of Jeroen van der Goot, also equipped with a fountain, overlooks this newly renovated plan, but whose restoration work has seen the fountain moved. “I first started to identify public fountains, then I filtered by date from a certain number. I discovered a lot of anecdotes, in particular that when the municipality of the time wanted to make a network of low fountains, they went to the source at Cros.”

From this source a 1.5 km pipeline would start, “which passes under Argentesse and Vidourle”in siphon. But above all, Jeroen van der Goot quickly notes that the period of proliferation of fountains in the village goes back “during the period of religious unrest, between Catholics and Protestants. A dense cloud corresponds to the period, probably because the people were prisoners of the Catholics, I suppose.”

“It was at that moment that Mr. Bastide proposed to the community to create public fountains, to touch the sewer. A right that he resold to his neighbors. But as they had made a sizing error in the pipes, there remained a reduction of 30%. It was a certain Durand who acquired this excess. Acquiring the status of sewer worker had the advantage of being able to resell water and, therefore, make three cents from it.

“I thought that my research would mean that the Cigalois would have found an exceptional subject to highlight the dying town”

Jeroen van der Goot, instigator of the petition for the classification of the town's fountains

“I started from the land register, with the wells, the sources, and the fountains. Then, I created a Facebook group “Saint-Hippolyte-du-Fort insolite” and some members were very interested.” And, quickly, the comparison – somewhat excessive – with Aix-en-Provence emerged. The city of 1,000 fountains has, in reality, “only” 350. But on a much larger surface area “When we reached 90 in Saint-Hippo, we started to be taken seriously. I thought then that my research would mean that the Cigalois would have found an exceptional subject to highlight the dying town, in which the tourism decline”enthuses Jeroen van der Goot. But his idea did not receive the attention he expected from the municipality. It must be said that the interlocutors come from far away. And that, even beyond the draft Plan against which Jeroen van der Goot spoke, the latter has never hidden his animosity towards the current elected officials.

“The municipality, poursuit ainsi Jeroen van der Goot, They have the Griffin fountain under their window, which should make them jump: out of the twelve original griffins, there are only two griffin heads left. This shows that they are not concerned about the subject.”that is to say the one leading to the classification of fountains. A work which would be very long-term, and legally complicated, Jeroen van der Goot hoping to put public and private fountains in the same basket. And, even if his petition now exceeds 14,400 signatures, and has obtained the support of the Bern Mission, the obstacles remain numerous.

“We are part of a fountain renovation plan, gradually”

Bruno Olivieri, mayor of Saint-Hippolyte-du-Fort

On the municipal side, the mayor, Bruno Olivieri, denies not being interested in hydraulic heritage. “We are part of a plan to gradually renovate fountains. We renovated the one in the Plan, the one in Place de la Canourgue and the others will be done little by little.” Wishing to put away the controversies with his citizen of Cigalois, the mayor greets “a very good initiative, on the part of Mr. van der Goot, I subscribe to the approach. But it is not just his business and it must concern all Cigalois.”

Jeroen van der Goot underlines that the petition allows him to make the “exiles” of the commune react, that the signatories are a quarter from Cévennes, another quarter from Paris, a third quarter from nearby departments and the last quarter from the rest. of France. Which goes well beyond his 1,000 subscribers on his Facebook page, even if he hopes for up to 200,000 signatures. But for Bruno Olivieri, what the classification – hypothetical in his eyes – would pose as a problem would be worse than the absence of classification.

“We have three perimeters which depend on the architects of buildings of France (ABF) in the communeexplains the mayor of Saint-Hippolyte-du-Fort. If, like most of us, there is no co-visibility, we can ask the ABF for a simple opinion for an urban modification. I find the compromise intelligent. If the fountains are classified, we will have co-visibility from everywhere. We will therefore have to obtain the approval of the ABF for any modification, which is much more cumbersome, and will even prevent work.”

Finally, the mayor also raises the weather hazard, even if 2024 is an exception: “There is also the question of resources. Some of the fountains have not flowed for 50 years. Some, we put them in a closed circuit. And others, we are prevented from opening them in summer.” These “monuments”, although they remain visible, have often lost their intended purpose.

If the petition – or, rather, “the consultation”prefers Jeroen van der Goot – achieves relative success on the Internet we are still a long way from the 200,000 signatures possibly hoped for by residents of the Plan. “Local heritage does not belong only to us and the municipal council, insists Jeroen van der Goot, referring to his external support.But if the Cigalois do not support the request, this will have to be taken into account.”

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