October 2008
Quatre Bras Farm about to be demolished!
From Dominique Timmermans, a Belgian historian:
Dear Friends,
Another witness of the Napoleonic era is about to disappear. I just
heard that a request had been brought in for an authorisation to
demolish the famous Quatre-Bras farm, at the crossroads of the roads
from Namur to Nivelles and from Brussels to Charleroi, one of the
last witnesses of the famous battle on the 16th of June 1815. This
would also lead to the destruction of commemorative plate, which is
on the southern wall. It is not too late to intervene, but it is
time, and well worth trying. If some British Napoleonic association
would care to send a lettre to the Communal Administration of
Genappe, we are sure this could have some impact ! I think this is a
job for the Waterloo Committee, but I have no contact there ! Send
your remarks/questions/disapproval (even in English) to the :
Collège communal,
Espace 2000 n° 3
1470 Genappe
Thank you to inform us of any action or letter at
dominique.timmermans[a]skynet.be.
You can find the exact spot on GoogleEarth by looking for 50°34'
17.53 N et 4° 27'13.72 E.
Currently, we have the support of following associations :
- the A.C.M.N. (Association for the preservation of Napoleonic
monuments) (through the President, Mr Robert Chénier, and many
membres, among them myself)
- the International Napoleonic Society (INS) (through the President,
Mr Ben Weider and the official delegate for France, Mr Jean-Claude
Damamme)
- the Souvenir Napoléonien (through the President, Mr Ronald Zins)
- the Mexico-France Napoleonic Institute - Instituto Napoleónico
México-Francia INMF - Asociación Histórica y Cultural (through the
President Mr Eduardo Garzon-Sobrado).
- the Amis de Ligny (through the President, Colonel e.r. Pierre
COUVREUR, and the Secretary general)
- the Amis de l'Empéri (through the President)
- the City of Fleurus
- the 'Associazione Napoleonica Italiana (to be confirmed)
- the A.P.N. (Friends of the Napoleonic Heritage)(through the
President and the Secretary general)
What's the current situation ?
The Mayor and his deputies have rejected the request for destruction
as brought in by the property developer.
So this is an important positive point.
But the battle is far from won !. The property developer will surely
bring in a new projet. To be informed of this project -and to be
able to react at that time, one has to communicate name, first name,
address and e-mail address to the administration of Genappe, at
following e-mail address
info@genappe.be,
asking to be informed of the evolution of the project.
Of course, we shall keep you informed of any development. Please let
us know if your association or yourself do something. Thanks in
advance
.JPG)
The Panorama - Progress in Repair
.JPG)
The
The Gardener's House at Hougoumont. Work needed here too!
September 2008
Repairs to the Great Southern Wall at Hougoumont
Pictures taken Sep 2008
The Chapel at Hougoumont. now painted similarly to how it made have been in 1815
Repairs to the Great Southern Wall at Hougoumont
From
Madam Brassine's Lawyer Vermer Dominique
“Mrs. Brassine has taken cognizance of the
comments Mr. Kubla, ex-secretary of Tourism, published on this
website in January 2007. She considers his words little
respectful and particularly very little in accordance with the
reserve one could expect from a (ex) Minister (= Secretary).
She is anxious to stress that she opposed the project of
“redevelopment of Culture Space” in its 2006 version for completely
unselfish motives, exclusively moved by a concern to protect an
exceptional heritage close to the heart of the Belgian and the
English people.
She also wants to stress that this first project- fortunately today
abandoned, thanks to her action at the Council of State – consisted
of constructing not only one building of more than 100 meters in
length, semi-buried called “the Memorial” as well as an enormous car
park behind the “Bivouac of the Emperor”, it also consisted of
building a road through the English counter slope.
It was unacceptable to have a road build through an exceptional
agricultural landscape in the best preserved section of the site
where the Duke of Wellington had concentrated all his reserves and
artillery, behind the Sunken lane. This thus concerned the part of
the battlefield of the highest historic interest. The relief of this
area is the reason the English troops were invisible to Napoleon’s
army. It is this remarkable place which Minister Kubla wished to
replace with a car park and a road.
Mrs. Brassine was also shocked by the assertion according to which
she would have perceived important compensations that she would then
have used to oppose the project. Mrs. Brassine did not receive the
slightest compensation but only a set price for the “Hôtel des
Touristes” which she owned and was forced to sell to the
authorities.
Mrs. Brassine wishes for the project of redevelopment to be
established according to historical and cultural interests and not
only according to the profit, that could be generated".
September 2007
Jacques Logie – Historian, Author and Chairman of the Association of friends of the
Waterloo Committee. It is sad news to learn that Jacques Logie died in his sleep on
Monday 3 September. The funeral took place place on Saturday at the church in Plancenoit.
Many of his friends and family attended.
It is both sad and yet credible to Jaques that the plan to extend protection of larger areas of the
battlefield under the law of March 6 1914 was finally approved and the administrative procedure started
to include another 2800 acres of historically interesting land. The Wallonia minister announced this on
Monday September 10 in front of television on the same occasion as he officially opened the work site
for the restoration of the rotunda.
Jacques was the lead in pushing these two projects towards completion and he would have been most
pleased with the results. It is to be hoped that the restoration of the Gordon Monument will follow
along the same path. It is particularly sad that he will not able to see this himself.
June 2007
The Waterloo Memorial renovation project . The main improvements are in the removal of buildings on both sides of the Panorama and Butte du Lion, as well as the Hotel de la Paix; restoration of some of the remaining buildings; turning the current road through the Hameau du Lion into a paved, rather than tarmac, pedestrian path; excavation of an underground Memorial; and siting all the car parking along the side of the motorway, thus hidden by trees. The overall effect of the new design, which has the approval of the Comite' Scientifique, will be to return the area around the Butte/Panorama to something much more resembling its original appearance, with an additional 22,000 sq m of ground given back to agricultural use. The regional government will fund the whole project, with work commencing in 2008.
The Panorama will also be restored; funds have been allocated by the regional government and the work will start after the tourist season this autumn.
For Hougoumont, which was bought some three years ago by the regional government for E 1.0m, the regional government has included a sum covering 60% of the restoration cost in next year's budget. It should be noted that the Soroptimists have raised E 25,000 which will be used to restore the Chapel, where they also aim to hold charity events. While the restoration work on the Chateau/Farm won't start until 2008 and the funds are firmly in the regional government's budget, that still leaves a sum of around E 475,00 to be found elsewhere.
Mont St Jean had recently been acquired by a new owner who is both reliable and willing/able to underwrite the total cost of restoration.
At La Haie Sainte the situation is more problematic. While it seems the regional government may be willing to undertake the restoration, it will be a difficult task as a main road runs very close to the side of the farm and it will not be possible to avoid disturbing the traffic on this busy road.
The trust owning the Victor Hugo Column has been wound up, so now the fate of the column depends on the Lasne council which is unlikely to have much interest and has taken no decision.
Gordon Monument and been told that they would undertake restoration in mid 2008. The E 1.0m cost will be borne by the federal government, which believes itself the owner. The poor state of the Monument and the 17 t. weight of the column make the task particularly tricky. A consultant will be brought in to assess the project and x–ray analysis will be used to prepare his report to the Commission des Monuments et Sites. The next meeting to discuss the results of the assessment will be held on October 5th. JL is in close contact with the main parties involved.
The Waterloo Committee has made several protests about unsuitable construction planned at different points including the Belgian Monument, which is not listed. This is also the position with the Quatre Bras Farm, which was not included in the original listing when the catalogue was drawn up in 1914.
January 2007
Problems at the Mont St Jean
Mme Brassine the long time and former owner of 'The Bivouac of the Emperor' who had a compulsory purchase order placed on the building has now forced an 'Arret' to stop the planned redevelopment by Culture Espace and the Intercommunale Bataille de Waterloo 1815.
Mr Kubla, ex–Minister of Tourism has said "after being well paid for the sale of her bar, she is now using the money to block the project"…a "bistro owner is acting like battlefield site manager".
Mr Kubla, is proposing a governmental decree (radical idea) in order to be able to deploy the funds (20 million Euros) in 2007, instead of re–starting the whole project after this 'Arret' forced by Mme Brassine.
Yves Vander Cruysen, President of the Intercommunale Bataille de Waterloo 1815 it is reported has no idea how to get out of this impasse.