Village life at risk as locals leave for city jobs

That has left many villages with no businesses and no shops: no boulangerie, no café, no épicerie.

Across France there are 15,000 rural communes where populations are falling or stagnating, and services such as schools and post offices are closing.

In comparison, a study by France Stratégie showed 15 cities with more than 500,000 inhabitants were home to 40% of the population and accounted for 55% of salaries earned.

These cities create 50% more GDP per head than the rest of France, with Paris alone accounting for a third of French GDP.

However, urban areas (towns of more than 100,000 people) are also home to 65% of France’s poorest households.

The picture is different again in provincial market towns. In urban areas of under 500,000 inhabitants, high streets are being abandoned in favour of zones commerciales on the outskirts. The popularity of new-build housing estates on the fringes of towns, known as lotissements, also contribute to the emptying of town centres, where housing stock is often obsolete and hard to renovate at a reasonable price.

Some councils have attempted to attract incomers by building new houses, but in many cases this has accelerated the emptying of town centres as people move to the suburbs. This is in contrast to the large cities which are now seeing gentrification of their central areas.

All this is despite development, funding, training and social security spending, says France Stratégie.

The report said education and job opportunities varied across the country, as did social mobility. Spending on education and training for unemployed people is unequal across the country.

The think-tank’s answer is to concentrate resources on large cities and on the poorest areas, such as north-east France, which risk slipping into permanent economic decline and population loss. Other areas should fend for themselves.

France has nearly 36,000 communes for its 64.5million population and, of these, more than 34,000 have a population under 5,000 and just under 1,000 have populations of more than 10,000.

A total of 20,000 communes have fewer than 500 people and some have only a handful.

Happily, there are some exceptions

ONE village is bucking the ‘desertification’ trend that has so concerned France Stratégie. The mayor of Veuil in the Indre says the village is doing so well the population is on the rise. It currently has nearly 400 residents.

How are they doing it? “It’s a team effort,” says mayor Joël Rety. “We work together, no-one gets a bigger say than anyone else, no-one is boss. No-one is more important than anyone else.”

The village is the proud holder of a Quatre Fleurs award from the Concours des Villes et Villages Fleuris competition.

This competition is organised annually by a committee linked to the Min­is­try of Tourism. Although about 12,000 villages have some form of the award, only 266 villages can boast the coveted four flowers that Veuil holds.

“It’s not just for having flowers,” says Marie-Christine, the mairie secretary.

“Only 30% of the marking is for flowers. The rest is for having them all year, well-kept green spaces, getting everyone involved, being environmentally aware and improving quality of life.

Having the award means village representatives are asked to speak at shows and fairs. Mr Rety said: “We go to everything; we talk to everybody. We love our village and we want the world to know about it, so that people want to come and live here. And when papers like The Connexion ask for interviews, we’re always available!”

A team of 40 volunteers keep the village looking its best. Marie-Christine said: “We don’t have much funding, but everyone wants to do it; we’re in it to­gether. You need a good team.”

The mayor said 3,000 people visited the village’s annual contemporary art exhibition last year. “That helps to keep our two restaurants going, and we fill all our rented holiday accommodation every summer.”

Mr Rety added: “So many people want to live here that new houses are being built in the village.

“When people ring we’re always very happy to invite them to come and see what we’re doing here, and how we’re doing it. It takes effort but it’s worth it.”

Life in the countryside is better than life in the city, he says.

“It’s a super village, it’s our heritage and we wouldn’t live anywhere else.”