How to kill off a small town

https://www.lanouvellerepublique.fr/poitiers/vienne-il-collectionne-les-souvenirs-nazis

Luchapt is like a ghost town. After buying up many of the properties in the town centre they are now shuttered and empty.

Had no idea…

Many years ago, back in UK, a friend of ours bought many empty buildings in the village, rather than see them be sold and demolished for something “modern”. Being a builder… he obviously had the means to save these buildings, get them listed (if appropriate)… and get them back into good usage. The villagers still remember him with affection and gratitude… :relaxed::hugs:

Pity this other Englishman could not do similarly… rather than his dog-in-a-manger style… :zipper_mouth_face::thinking::rage:

It doesn’t make sense to me. If this super rich individual wanted a remote chateau with no neighbours there are plenty that fit that description. Why he bought one in a village centre then proceeded to buy up and lock up all the neighbouring properties is beyond me. Luckily they weren’t interested in selling him the football pitch.

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question is he owns 13 of the house and the chateau, how many other houses are left?

In response to the title of the thread, build a super market on the edge of town, amazing to look round small towns/villages, were this has occured, and note the number of buildings that were obviously commercial premises, not so long ago :roll_eyes:

Not here Bill. This is a small rural town where one rich person has played a major part in killing off the community in the name of his privacy during the few weeks he visits his holiday home.

image

Count them Harry. Those marked in red are obviously some of the ones he already owns. It’s a village that has had its centre shut down and boarded up. Sad.

Weirdo.

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no time unfortunately. population of 300 i saw so that is 200 french 100 English. given the amount of houses on this image they must be some pretty big families

Yes :roll_eyes:

Is that the commune or the town. I drove through it yesterday, it’s really strange - a ghost town. Many of the buildings on the map are terraces.

the commune but there are not that many places outside the village that are part of the commune.

our village has over 400 residents but often there are very few folks around. many elderly, many at work,.

Hi Harry…

The figures come from the Surveys (that are done regularly) and are talking about the population of the entire Commune of Luchapt as just over 300… all of whom will be permanent residents … by the sound of it, most of them do not live in the Village itself…

actually the population of the town was last recorded at 269 and zero recorded birth but many deaths. Average age of population over 60 years old. there are 129 house in the main town. he owns how many again? Seems to me him owning 13 houses (including the big house and a little house by the chateau. so he own 11 more houses in the town itself so he owns less than 10% of the houses yet its a ghost town… seems to me there is something else afoot in this town, maybe the fact that all the french folks there are old as hell and dying like flies but no young people buying the empty property there are as far as I can see more than 12 house for sale in the village as well and that is just one site listing. As it becomes more apparent this one man is not the reason its a ghost town.

https://www.avendrealouer.fr/vente/luchapt-86/b-maison/loc-101-40952.html

and the other villages around it (within the commune)

  • Population of Asnières-sur-Blour (86) located at 1.79 km of Luchapt
  • Population of Mouterre-sur-Blourde (86) located at 3.60 km from Luchapt
  • Population of Saint-Barbant (87) located at 5.05 km from Luchapt
  • Population of Saint-Martial-sur-Isop (87) located 5.15 km from Luchapt
  • Population Oradour-Fanais (16) located 6.24 km from Luchapt

figures are not exact though.

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Hi Harry… well done…you’ve obviously found the most recent Survey Results. I was thinking there should be another set, as the ones I found seemed to come from 2006…

From your figures, it is quite clear that the numbers of permanent residents in the Commune of Luchapt are falling… No wonder the Maire is worried…

The other places you mention are not actually within the Commune of Luchapt… they are close by, but completely separate entities. A bit like Brighton and Hove… :thinking::wink:

“Collector of Nazi memorabilia”
Need one say more.

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I’m glad the Maire is going to charge the chap for any properties he refuses to put into the market place… renting/selling… either will do. The village centres need to be populated…

Another thing to remember is that an Estate Agent blurb is a bit fluid… for example… according to avendrealouer.fr there are 9 properties for sale in my Village…

In fact, of the 9 offered, only 2 are in the Village itself the others are actually in various hamlets a few kilometres away, but, OK, yes, within the Commune…but NOT the village… it makes a difference… :zipper_mouth_face:

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