This Friday morning, in the small pedestrian area of La Roche-en-Ardenne, the alderwoman for tourism Sophie Molhan is waiting for us for a walk. Nothing very sporty. Just enough to stretch your legs on a 300 meter long route. The experience is amazing. A few onlookers seem to have gotten lost. Cars. Two delivery trucks. For the rest, only the heels carrying the Rochoise policy break an almost agonizing silence. “You see, there are indeed some works, but it remains sad“, launches the alderman. The few cobblestones lined up have become used to their solitude. The shops, a little less. Twenty empty cells, for a center like La Roche, that’s a lot.
“What we need is to bring pedestrians back to this pedestrian area during off-peak periods. School holidays and weekends, it works well. But we have to make this space pleasant enough so that not only tourists but also Rochois want to stop there.“The problem is tackled head-on. An action plan is quickly put together. One question remained: how to finance it?
Europe has just answered this question by releasing a subsidy of 1,247,200.05 euros. “Imagine, for a town of just over 4,000 inhabitants, it’s huge!“, smiled the alderman.