This week, the Mouvement Réformateur stops in Leuze-en-Hainaut, in Picard Wallonia. At its head, Hervé Cornillie combines his roles as mayor and federal MP with one ambition: preparing the town's future while meeting the daily needs of the people of Leuze. Revitalisation of the town centre, budget consolidation, a new swimming pool project, a new municipal property strategy, mobility projects, economic and tourism development, improved security through CCTV are among the issues shaping this transformation. Investments aimed at boosting the town's appeal and sustainably improving residents' quality of life.
Hervé, your political commitment has led you to serve as mayor of Leuze-en-Hainaut and as a federal MP. Can you tell us about your journey within the liberal family and what made you want to get involved for your town? How do these two responsibilities feed into each other to defend the interests of the people of Leuze and advance local issues?
I got involved in politics at a very young age, both with the MR and with the Jeunes MR. I was notably chairman of the Federation of Young Reformers of Western Hainaut (we didn't yet speak of Picard Wallonia!) from 1999 to 2008.
In 2000, while still a student, I took my first steps in local politics by standing in the municipal elections in Leuze-en-Hainaut. I was elected as a municipal councillor, with the support of the then mayor, Jean-Pol Renard. I then chaired the Youth Commission, before becoming an alderman in 2006, then First Alderman in 2012.
Alongside my local involvement, I gained professional experience in various cabinets and public institutions. In 2003, I started as an aide in the cabinet of Hervé Hasquin, then Minister-President of the French Community. I then worked at the National Union of Liberal Health Insurance Funds, before becoming parliamentary assistant to Jean-Luc Crucke in 2006, then his private secretary when he became a minister.
I also held several positions in the non-profit and sports sector: General Director of the French-speaking Disability Sports League, then at the Belgian Paralympic Committee.
In September 2019, I became a Walloon MP partway through the legislature, as the first substitute on the list, a role I held until January 2022.
I then continued my political commitment with the MR and worked notably alongside Adrien Dolimont, in the cabinet of the Walloon Minister for Budget and Finance.
2024 was a crucial year for me: in June, I was elected federal MP with 8,246 preference votes (I again thank the voters of Hainaut who placed their trust in me!) and in December, I was sworn in as mayor of Leuze-en-Hainaut.
The revitalisation of the town centre has just taken an important step forward with the transfer of several regional roads to the Town, needed for the redevelopment of the Grand-Place and neighbouring streets. What transformation do you want to bring to the heart of Leuze to support shops, make public spaces more welcoming and ease travel? And how do you plan to support residents and shopkeepers during the various phases of the works?
I want to give the heart of Leuze a real identity, to make it a lively, welcoming and attractive town centre, where people enjoy strolling, shopping, meeting up and taking part in the events that shape local life.
The redevelopment of the Grand-Place and surrounding streets is an important opportunity to rethink our town centre as a whole: soft mobility, more pleasant and greener public spaces, while maintaining sufficient accessibility for motorists, residents and people with reduced mobility. I want us to strike a balance between conviviality, mobility and economic dynamism.
This transformation must above all support our shopkeepers. An attractive town centre means accessible shops, terraces, meeting places, events and a diverse range of businesses. I also want to continue working on vacant commercial premises, make it easier for new self-employed people to set up, and strengthen collective initiatives that make people want to visit the centre.
The new swimming pool project has been relaunched after a period marked by significant budgetary constraints. Beyond building two pools, the challenge is to offer a facility accessible to schools, families and clubs, while keeping costs under control over time. How do you want to reconcile this sporting ambition with responsible management of the town's finances, and what role can partnerships with neighbouring municipalities play in this project?
The swimming pool is an important facility for a town like Leuze. It serves swimming lessons, health, sport and wellbeing. I am convinced that our children must be able to learn to swim in good conditions and that our clubs, schools and families must have access to suitable infrastructure.
But I also believe a project of this scale must be approached with great responsibility. In Leuze-en-Hainaut, we inherited a difficult budgetary situation, and together with the municipal college, we do not want to commit the town to an investment whose running costs would become unsustainable for future generations. That is precisely why we slowed down and revised our approach. Rather than thinking only at Leuze's scale, the project needs to take on a supra-municipal dimension. A swimming pool does not only benefit the residents of the host municipality: it meets the needs of a much wider catchment area.
The Aq'WaPi project is based on this logic of partnership between neighbouring municipalities, in order to share costs more fairly, pool resources and ensure sufficient use of the facility. It is also a way of backing an ambitious project without placing its cost solely on the shoulders of Leuze's taxpayers.
Our goal is to offer two pools meeting the needs of schools, sports clubs and the general public, in a functional, accessible and economically sustainable facility run by the autonomous municipal agency.