Saint-Guilhem: Robert Siegel discusses new construction sites in 2025 for the listed village

Robert Siegel, maire de Saint-Guilhem – Nathalie Pioch

The work to bury the electrical network has begun on the departmental road. – Nathalie Pioch

The erasure of the networks will eliminate the wires on the facades. – Nathalie Pioch

In the listed site of the Gorges de l’Hérault, the electricity and telephone networks are no longer welcome. – Nathalie Pioch

At the mouth of the Hérault gorges, the Devil's Bridge is an emblem of the Grand Site – Nathalie Pioch

The new perimeter of the Grand Site covers an area of ​​27,000 hectares. DR

Les gorges de l’Hérault possèdent des sites naturels et patrimoniaux remarquables. – Nathalie Pioch

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Two important steps will be taken this year for the town: the removal of telephone and electricity networks, and the renewal of the Grand Site de France label.

Among the projects that will be supported by the mayor of Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert this year, there is one that is finally on the right track: the removal of visible networks in the village and, more broadly, throughout the town. “That's what shocked me when I arrived“, remembers Robert Siegel. “When I was elected mayor, with the municipal council, we decided that we should no longer see all of these wires. For a village classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, this is not a good image.” Indeed, walking through the alleys, we see all of the connections on the facades, the antennas and the satellite dishes. And all along the road that leads to the village, in the heart of the Grand Site, on the mountain side you can see the electricity poles, and on the gorge side, the telephone network. With sometimes wires that are almost at ground level.

Fiber installation

“For a long time, we were at an impasse, for technical reasons, but also financial ones. And all of a sudden it unlocked“, continues the mayor. Thanks to the decision of Orange, owner of the infrastructure, which decided to close the copper network in favor of fiber optics, the town was able to register for the system. The entire village will therefore be fibered by 2026 at the latest, and the poles removed, according to the mayor. For electricity, the landslide that occurred in the valley above the Clamouse cave accelerated the steps with Enedis, which decided to make an underground connection, even if certain constraints still need to be lifted. Robert Siegel is therefore smiling again, because it was also one of the axes of the “Gellone 2050” project. “It's part of the staging!“

The renewal of the Grand Site label in the sight

The other major project is the renewal of the Grand Site label for the Hérault Gorges, for which he has the delegation for the CCVH. The departmental commission for sites gave a favorable opinion in November, it is now in the hands of the national commission (which depends on the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion), which should give its opinion on May 22 or June 26. To carry out this new request, Robert Siegel insisted that it be done with the participation of the inhabitants. “Consultation is important. We need their feedback, and they are more supportive of the label. It's true that some people may feel left out, even dispossessed, but if we hadn't done that, it would probably be more complicated.” After a few political twists and turns, the name will once again be Grand site Gorges de l'Hérault Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert. “I am keen on it, not out of pride, but for historical reasons. The project was born from the desire to protect the village from overcrowding of tourists. The label is mainly awarded to natural sites. But here, there is a spiritual, architectural and cultural dimension that is not necessarily found elsewhere“. The development of the renewal took several months, but the good news is that the label is now valid for 8 years.

 

The Grand site in figures

The perimeter of the Grand site “Gorges de l’Hérault Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert" has been expanded, with the village d’Arboras and the Buèges valley to the Grotte des Demoiselles. It now extends over 27,000 hectares, encompassing 18 communes, 3 communities of communes and 5 listed sites.

The new management plan for the period 2024/2031 is structured around three main axes: preservation of landscapes and natural and cultural heritage; management of attendance, development of eco-mobility and distribution of flows; improvement of visitor reception, discovery offer, mediation and local economic benefits.