2023-05-17 17:06:07
This merger, which already obtained the green light from the regional government on March 17, will be effective on December 2, 2024, when the municipal council of the new municipality is installed after the ballot scheduled for October.
The latter will retain the name of Bastogne and will be authorized to bear the name of City.
Bastogne and Bertogne are the only two Walloon municipalities to have officially signed up, not without resistance, to this merger process following the decree governing voluntary mergers. This obvious lack of enthusiasm has led several MPs, both from the majority and from the opposition, to point out the need to reflect on the mechanisms of participatory democracy and to have, in the future, better adapted texts.
Lessons to be learned
“When you do citizen participation, you have to do it seriously. I think we all agree that here, that was not the case. There are many lessons to be learned from this for more peaceful future organizations,” said MP Ecolo Rodrigue Demeuse.
“Any merger of municipalities is a difficult question because it speaks to the affect. There is no ideal process, but if I am proposing this decree, it is because the rules that we have collectively put in place have been respected and that the two entities have judged that the merger was positive for them”, for his part defended the Minister of Local Authorities, Christophe Collignon (PS).
“The Mayors of Bastogne and Bertogne, Benoît Lutgen and Jean-Marc Franco thank the Walloon parliamentarians for having voted in favor of this merger. They also thank the Minister of Local Authorities, Christophe Collignon for his support and encouragement during the various stages of the procedure as well as all the people who, directly or indirectly, have contributed to the successful outcome of this process (employee( e)s, workers, citizens, etc.), we learn in a press release.
1684365454
#merger #Bastogne #Bertogne #definitively #approved #Walloon #parliament