This is the second time in a few months that Valérie Pécresse has come to the countryside in Indre. In October, she had not yet been chosen by LR to be a presidential candidate. It is now done, and this Monday, she came to present her project, and in particular what she plans for rural areas and medium-sized towns.
Reinvest in the territories to bring residents back
Visiting the digital city of Châteauroux, Valérie Pécresse praised the importance of promoting start-ups and the development of innovations in medium-sized towns.
Making modernity and rurality rhyme, that speaks to me, it is the heart of my project for a new France
On several occasions, she insisted on her desire to develop fiber everywhere in the territories during the next five years. “This opens up new economic potential.”
The return of inhabitants to the countryside is also favored by the pandemic: “very many are the inhabitants of metropolises who want to find a more authentic living environment, closer to nature, and welcoming” she explains. The candidate’s program is based on regional planning around 350 medium-sized towns such as Châteauroux. And to encourage installation, it wishes to set up aid to access zero-interest loans “throughout France and no longer just the metropolises”, and help create local businesses, in particular by reducing the tax rate of 50% on investments made by relatives (relatives, neighbours).
During the exchange between Valérie Pécresse and the young workers of La Châtre, the apprentice stonemasons, young farmers or even bakers, also largely shared their concerns about lack of access to certain services. Starting with health. “For five years I did not have a doctor”, explains one of them. The opportunity for Valérie Pécresse to develop the part of her program on medical studies: the candidate wishes to add a year to generalist students, the last devoted to internships in medical deserts, “to show them another aspect of the job, and encourage them to come and settle”. According to her, the revitalization of the countryside goes through several plans: health, therefore, but also infrastructure and access to public services.
Decentralization at the heart of regional planning
For these investments in the countryside, Valérie Pécresse wants to develop what she calls “France capital”.
I want to make the biggest decentralization law since the Deferre law, transfer entire blocks of powers to departments, communities of municipalities and regions
“We saw it there too during the Covid crisis: the closer we are, the more we act” she explained. A reform that won over Jean-Christophe Fromentin, mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine and president of Territoires en Mouvement. Present during the visit on Monday, he affirmed that the program of the candidate LR corresponding to his vision of the territories: “to work where one wants to live”.