Ladies and Gentlemen, Elected representatives,
Presidents of Associations,
Ladies and Gentlemen, Fellow Citizens,
It is with great joy and deep gratitude that I stand before you today to celebrate this New Year together. I would like to thank each and every one of you for coming.
This ceremony is always a special occasion to bring us together, residents, elected representatives and municipal staff.
First of all, I would like to wish a speedy recovery to all those who are ill, and my thoughts go out to all those who have left us this year.
As we all know, the last few years have not been a smooth ride. They have been difficult and restrictive, and they continue to have an impact on our daily lives. The economic and social difficulties we have had to face have become ever greater. And then there are the international conflicts. While we need to think about our projects with a degree of caution, we must nonetheless maintain an optimistic vision in order to move our community forward while serving our fellow citizens.
This is the spirit in which we have moved forward, responded to requests and launched projects.
It is the role of elected representatives to take responsibility for their choices. In 2024, we have increased the rates of the various taxes by 1%, which is now the only way for the local authority to increase its resources and adjust its budget since the disappearance of the taxe d’habitation. I must emphasise that this is a 1% increase in rates, not in the amount you pay, nor in the tax bases, which only the State can influence, representing around €2 per inhabitant.
Ladies and gentlemen, here’s an overview of our situation, our future challenges and our hopes for better days ahead.
Since 2023, we have been extending the waste sorting instructions. Almost all your waste has become a resource, and if, as it should have been the case since 1st January 2024, you have been removing your organic waste from your household waste bag, you should end up with virtually nothing left in your household waste bag. On the subject of organic waste, as we said at the outset, you can take it to the communal composter if you don’t have a garden. You can also give it to your pets or your neighbours’ pets. This will reduce the volume of organic waste and make the composter run more smoothly.
In the year and a half that we’ve been using the new containers, and despite some people’s doubts about their use, I’ve noticed that they’re working very well. You’ve got used to them, you’re committed to reducing waste, and the place is respected and fairly clean. The amount of household waste has been halved. It’s important to take care of our environment for future generations.
As we do every year, we have carried out maintenance work on our buildings and public spaces. If we want to preserve our heritage so that we can pass it on to our children, we have to look after it. This year, the particular weather conditions led to exceptional grass growth, and we were forced to mow and clear the undergrowth much more often than usual. As a result, we were unable to carry out the improvements planned for the village.
In 2024, we had planned to rehabilitate the small square in front of Rue de l’Ecole, but we were unable to do so, as well as part of the pavements.
The construction work on the hangar planned for the water tower site will be carried out during the course of this year. This building will meet the accommodation needs of small businesses, which are now obliged to build in business parks, and will also be used by local associations in need of storage space.
Last September, the communal washhouse (Lavoir) was completely dismantled to allow the mason to rebuild the retaining wall before winter. We’re still waiting for him to arrive, and I hope he will do so in early spring, as the carpenter is apparently in the process of preparing the timbers.
The current state of the washhouse required complete renovation to preserve and pass on this historic heritage to future generations. The Terra Aventura trail runs along the foot of the washhouse, allowing visitors to admire it and discover the Roman fountain that feeds it, while enjoying the picnic area located on the same site. The cost of the work is €55,000, and we have only received €7,500 in grants. The online fund raised €7,800.
The flat above the grocery shop has been completed and is now let. The entrance hall to this flat was entirely done by us. I would like to congratulate the 2 volunteers and the local employee for their excellent work.
The church roof has been re-roofed and treated for moss. At Bernac church, the bell swinging mechanism needs to be replaced, along with the yoke and the clapper, which are very worn. The estimate comes to €5,000 excluding VAT. It will certainly not be possible to carry out this work this year.
This year, we have decided to join the OPAH-RU scheme, a 5-year programme for housing improvement and urban renewal. This scheme will help owner-occupiers and landlords in the centre of Loubès to renovate their homes. The main focus is on energy renovation, but there are also a number of improvements to meet people’s needs (walk-in showers, removal of steps, stairlifts, etc.). If you have a project in mind, a technician will study your case, based on the work required and your income, and will tell you what percentage of assistance you are entitled to. If you are happy with the proposal, the technician will prepare the application and monitor the work free of charge.
There is already a programme to help owners whose properties are located in the rest of the municipality. In both cases, you can contact the Mairie for more information.
You will all have noticed that our village shop is now open, and the owners are very friendly and ready to welcome you. They have refurbished the interior and I invite you to come back to this essential service for our region, if only to have a coffee; you will certainly meet the mayor and some of the councillors.
For a number of years now, the law has required us to have a water supply point usable by the fire service within 400 metres of each dwelling, by road. This year, we landscaped the Goudards pond, which belongs to the municipality. We are still looking for sites for other points, either natural reserves or to install flexible reserves. There is a water point opposite the chemin de Lamartigne that could be used for the hamlet, and we need to meet with the owner to reach an agreement and sign an agreement. We also need to find places in Bernac to link up this part of the commune.
We are part of the Regroupement Pédagogique Intercommunal of Loubès-Bernac, Soumensac and Saint-Jean de Duras. The Soumensac town council decided to transfer its class to our school in order to adapt and prepare for the “School of Tomorrow”. Following this decision, we commissioned a study and drew up a project to extend our school complex in order to accommodate the new class, as our commune has sufficient space to provide a safe and modern school environment for the pupils. The commune of Saint-Jean wants to keep its own school. We currently have 23 nursery pupils under the guidance of a teacher whose pedagogical and human qualities are well proven. We have recruited a new canteen assistant, Myriam, and she has adapted very well to her new role. She’s very active and very committed, and we’re very pleased with her.
Although our financial indicators are good and our management is sound, the keystone of any public policy remains a community’s ability to finance its investments.
There’s no secret about it, it can only be done by rigorously limiting all operating expenditure, which is far from being the case. Every year, new standards and obligations increase operating expenditure. Investing, at the level of our municipality, means enhancing our territory, making it more attractive and protecting our environment and quality of life. Behind each of these projects and the solutions we provide, there is a vision to which I strive to remain faithful and which I am keen to share with you, that of an attractive, welcoming, clean and safe area.
But I’m not going it alone, and I’d like to thank my deputies for their day-to-day work and all the local councillors for their sense of responsibility.
I would also like to thank all our staff, both technical and administrative, for the quality of their work. They are the linchpins of our decisions, and I am delighted to be surrounded by a competent and committed team at the service of the people of Loubès.
Our team is at your service and at your disposal, so don’t hesitate to come and meet us by requesting an appointment at the Town Hall.
Of course, many of the faces here are familiar to me: long-standing residents, committed players in the life of our community, volunteers from associations here, whether in the fields of sport, culture, entertainment, festivals or leisure, who contribute to the success of community events, parents of schoolchildren, craftsmen and shopkeepers, young people who have seen us grow up in Loubès. I’m delighted to inform you that two new associations have taken up residence in our commune: the Fit Dance association, represented by Katia, which has been offering Zumba/Step classes in the village hall since September 2024, and which has a large number of participants, and the Carbur’En Duo association, represented by our beautician Élodie and her friend Armand, who will be taking part in the Nomad Raid across the Moroccan desert next month. They have been preparing their Peugeot 205 for this event for months.
The municipal team and I are always delighted to welcome new families. Each and every one of you has a place here. At Loubès-Bernac, we are all links in the same chain, the one that moves us forward in the general interest and in a spirit of solidarity. In the last few years, we have had three centenarians, and this year we will be celebrating the 100th birthday of one of our residents, and in 2026 we will have another. Among all these centenarians, there was only one man: Gentlemen, beware of excess!
To all of you, I propose to act as if it were impossible to fail. May 2025 see the realisation of all that you wish and undertake. Let us hope, together, that attention to others, listening and dialogue will always prevail over indifference.
So here we are at the start of a new year, with so much to do that we have barely seen 2024 go by. Together with the councillors and staff of our local services, we have acted on behalf of our residents, for the future of our commune, always with the common good at heart, and with the bonds and solidarity between residents to ensure that no one is left behind or in difficulty.
I would like to extend my best wishes and thanks to all those whose job it is to educate, care for, assist, listen to and integrate. My thanks and best wishes also go to the business leaders, shopkeepers, craftsmen and farmers in our community, whose dynamism gives our region vitality.
And for you, ladies and gentlemen, I wish you health, happiness, fraternity and success in your projects. May 2025 be a year of peace, solidarity and success for all of us.
Together, we will continue to build a better future for our community. Thank you for your attention and commitment.