This is what is called a sea serpent. A project in the pipeline for more than 15 years: that of the eco-hamlet of Longecourt-lès-Culêtre, in Côte-d’Or, which promised to to be one of the first in Burgundy. Launched in the mid-2000s, in this village of less than 60 inhabitants, it aimed to develop eight plots of land, with the aim of hosting self-sufficient homes in energy, thanks to solar panels and even individual wind turbines.
– Pierre Antoine Lefort
Of the eight plots, two accommodated two social housing units. The other six remain desperately empty. However, the land is ready for housing. “We see the power boxes for each plot. There are all the networks arriving, water, electricity, telephone…”details the former mayor, Michel Charles, elected from 2001 to 2014. “In addition, it has this famous sheath that goes to the plots reserved for wind turbines, and a river water tank, to save water from the network.”
No house built, no potential buyer
This project also had a social dimension with the creation of a common room, a green theater for outdoor shows. But this does not seem to attract the support of potential buyers, who did not show up. “It’s true that I expected something else”, recognizes Michel Charles. “We invested a lot in it, but we may have gone about it a little backwards. Usually, in this kind of project, it’s a group of people who get in place and starts looking for land. He also refers to weak demand in the sector and a lack of “strong publicity, which is not limited to the township. Maybe that would change things.”
In eco-hamlet, the word eco will disappear
It will be too late anyway to save this eco-hamlet project. The social landlord Orvitis, who had bought the land in 2010 from the municipality to carry out the project, is officially withdrawing, and is preparing to resell it, on Thursday March 3, at the town hall of Longecourt-les-Culètre for the euro symbolic. Pledge to the municipality to find buyers. “In eco-hamlet, the word eco will disappear”, believes the current mayor, Gérard Brouillon, who has yet to discuss it in the municipal council. “It will be a classic housing estate, with classic houses. Orvitis sold the land for 30 euros per square meter, we will try to do it perhaps at half price…”
– Pierre Antoine Lefort
“I think it’s been going on too long”continues the elected official, appointed in 2020. On the merits of the project, Gérard Brouillon seems unconvinced. “I think it was a slightly crazy idea. An eco-hamlet, in a very small town like that… The idea was perhaps good in a bigger town, but we… It was pretty, the plans were beautiful, each house had a wind turbine, it was fabulous, but it didn’t take.” The sale of the land should make it possible to finance the repair of the roadway inside the subdivision.