2023-07-15 08:08:41
The mayors of the Vesdre municipalities have a strategic tool for reconstruction. This should inspire other valleys at risk, such as the Ourthe and the Dyle.
Two years after the terrible floods which devastated part of Wallonia and claimed 39 lives, we returned to Trooz. To areas fut the epicenter of the disaster with its dozens of devastated houses, its hundreds of cars washed away by the waters and its sidewalks torn up by the force of the elements.
Village hall, sports hall, La Brouck school, municipal administration, works department… “Only at the municipal level, these reconstructions will cost us 30 million. The sports hall, for example, will be raised and a swimming pool storm will be installed at the level of the parking lot. The annex of the municipal administration will be built on stilts with installation of heating in height.”
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“The public authorities have a tool to guide their projects in a vision for 2050. But the most important thing will be tomorrow to ensure the governance of this plan.”
Jacques Teller
Professor of urban planning and land use planning at ULiège
Those below
Set in the valley of the Vesdre, Trooz extends along the water over 11km². A bucolic charm that turned out to be a trap on July 14, 2021 with these waves rushing down the plateaus leaving no chance for those below. “The instructions given by the Walloon Region are to deconstruct risk areas. Forty buildings are in the process of being bought by the municipality with a view to their demolition to create temporary immersion zones.”
To guide its reconstruction, Trooz can today rely on a plan around the Vesdre development plan led in particular by Jacques Teller, professor of urban planning and land use planning at ULiège. Four territorial scenarios are developed there to guide the authorities in the renewal of the valley. From the future without disruption to the most extreme scenario which involves the demolition of many buildings in order to make space for the water, it is also advisable to concentrate developments on certain more restricted axes and transversal to the Vesdre, in order to make its place for nature without hampering economic development.
300
millions
This is the amount that would be necessary for the municipality of Trooz to apply all the recommendations of the new Vesdre development plan.
“Today, public authorities have a tool and a list of concrete actions to guide their projects in a vision for 2050. But the most important thing will be to ensure the governance of this plan tomorrow. We need a unit that coordinates actions between the 25 municipalities and the regional administration”, warns Jacques Teller.
Financial difficulty of municipalities
For the mayor of Trooz, if the idea is to follow the recommendations of the Vesdre development plan as much as possible, not everything will be feasible. “This plan is realistic in its implementation, but it is priceless. It is a figment of the mind. If we want to follow the plan, we would need between 200 and 300 million. To date, we have received 33 million from the Region. A new envelope of 88 million has been released for the 9 municipalities most affected by the floods. We are waiting to know how much we will receive”, he explains.
He pursues. “You have to realize that Trooz, in normal times, operates with a works budget of 1 million per year. However, on communal property alone, we will need 60 million. We have to be selective. It’s hard, because people don’t always understand it. And then, we don’t have our hands on everything. The town is crossed by a regional road and sidewalks are regional. Renovation is slow. The Region is advancing 100 meters in a neighborhood when there is more than a kilometer to redo.”
This financial difficulty was raised during a meeting with Elio Di Rupo, Minister-President from the Region, 2 weeks ago. “With the other mayors of the municipalities most affected by the floods, we asked him how we were going to finance the new buildings to follow the recommendations of the Vesdre plan. The Region unfortunately told us that it had not received much external assistance. It will take time…” On Friday, the government announced the mobilization of 137 million additional for municipalities,including 35 million for Trooz, with a view to acquiring the assets within the framework of flood risk management.
For Fabien Beltran, this answer will not solve his problems. “The inhabitants expect us to move towards the better. We can’t leave the ruins. Wallonia is giving itself 10 years, I hope to have completed the renovation of municipal buildings in 4 or 5 years. We will have to borrow and go into debt.”
Full screen view In Trooz, efforts are concentrated on what has not yet been able to be renovated and the dwellings which represent the most risk. ©Valentin Bianchi
A laboratory for the Ourthe and the Dyle
In the immediate future, the mayor of Trooz will focus on what has not yet been renovated and the homes that represent the most risk. The neighborhood Fendrie, by For example, demolition projects affect the buildings that go from the works department to the bridge. A little further on, an entire neighborhood made up of 47 social houses at the Foundry belonging to the Fléron housing company will have to be demolished to make way for a flood-prone area.
“We try as much as possible to integrate the recommendations of the Vesdre plan. For any permit request, we impose a storm basin and water tanks. We now hope that our colleagues located on the heights like in Sprimont do the samerespecting the studies to avoid overflows.”
The adaptation is started. One step after another. “We can see that the number of inhabitants is going up and private real estate projects are relaunchedThis enthusiasm must however be framed, warns the mayor, in order toavoid new developments in flood-prone areas. “But when the artificialization of land is refused, appeals are filed with the Walloon Region and they are won, because the rules on the new territorial development framework have not yet been formalized. For example, I had refused a project for the construction of four houses in risk areas. It was nevertheless validated following an appeal”, regrets Fabien Beltran.
“In the Dyle valley, there is no strategy in relation to this urbanization. We are however heading towards situations where floods will recur.”
Jacques Teller
Professor of urban planning and land use planning at ULiège
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For Jacques Teller, we should no longer procrastinate. “There are urban vigilance perimeters for new buildings. This should reduce the number of buildings that are too exposed. But in some cases, this will have to go through a modification of the sector planby changing the allocation of certain urbanizable plots, in order to adapt to climate change.”
Laboratory in the face of climate change, the Vesdre must now serve as a model for other valleys. Jacques Teller points to those of l’Ourthe and some Should. “These two areas represent concerns. It would take a document similar to that of the Vesdre and work on the watersheds. There is in these places, a very strong urban pressure upstream of the water. However, in the Dyle valley, there is no strategy in relation to this urbanization. We are, however, heading towards situations where floods will recur.”
The summary
Two years after the terrible floods, the municipalities of the Vesdre are rebuilding. In Trooz, the mayor can now count on a development plan for the Vesdre to guide his action. This plan should inspire other heavily urbanized valleys such as the ‘Ourthe and the Dyle. The cost of all these projects obviously remains the main obstacle.
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