Last year, the town of Tournus gained around a hundred inhabitants. This year, it has 140 more, to reach 5,702 souls. These figures are based on the last real census carried out in 2021, from which INSEE (National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies) makes an estimate based on different demographic and economic criteria.
This increase is all the more significant as it comes after 40 years of continuous decline. “There have been just two episodes of recovery since the 1970s,” recalls Mayor Bertrand Veau, “when Tournus merged with Plottes in 1973 and at the start of the mandate of Jean Legros, in 2008, when the town welcomed a population of Mahorais. . We are thus experiencing the first real increase in population in 40 years. »
The renovation of housing has borne fruit
The mayor says he is very happy to see his policy yield positive results. “This was my main objective of the urban renewal project and it was also my most difficult challenge,” he assures. The more attractive the city is and the more investors we can convince to renovate housing, the more potential customers there are for local businesses and the more taxpayers we have to finance city projects. We have thus had 200 homes renovated or in the process of being renovated since the start of my mandate. In particular, there was the senior residence built in place of the Madeleine Palace, but also the Clos Mozart, the first construction by a private investor in Tournus for a very long time. There is also social housing with the Habitat et Humanisme pension and their beguinages which are under construction. »
The Millennium effect of the abbey
The mayor also puts forward other reasons for this reversal of the curve: “Covid has had a good effect on small towns like ours, which have many public services. And I think that there was a Millennium effect of the abbey, which made many people discover or rediscover the city. So it’s a great satisfaction, but there is still work to keep the momentum going. »
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