This week we head to Beauraing, a municipality in the province of Namur where Mélanie Havenne has been active for nearly 20 years. After cutting her teeth as a CPAS councillor, she served two terms as alderwoman for town planning, youth and culture. At the end of 2024, she was appointed by the MR as a provincial MP. An unexpected turn in her career, which she shares with us.
This shift from alderwoman to provincial MP is a real change of course. How do you experience it? Is it a culmination for you after these years of municipal service, or a new challenge to take on?
It's certainly quite a change. I get up earlier and shout less at my four children. Having been used to direct and constant contact with people and municipal services, I now have to learn to wait and adapt to a new way of working that doesn't come naturally to me, but I'm well supported. Becoming a provincial MP isn't a culmination, it's simply the continuation of my commitment, now exercised at a different level. A level that maintains, and must even strengthen, its ties with the municipalities. A structural reform, refinancing of emergency response zones… it's clearly a new challenge.
After 12 years on the municipal college, what lessons and memorable moments do you take from your experience as alderwoman?
I keep and treasure everything! The first lesson is that we're here to serve the common good, and you must never forget that, nor take yourself too seriously. Always listen, engage in dialogue, confront ideas. I've learned so much! Commitment at the local level is the most beautiful and, at the same time, the most demanding, because over the years, it must be said, you're increasingly exposed to aggression and criticism. But when a project succeeds, a consensus is reached, a citizen thanks you, a political team and colleagues who have become true friends surround you… you forget and overcome everything!
What exactly is the role of a provincial MP, and what are your areas of responsibility?
Provinces, like municipalities, act in a dual capacity, as a subordinate local authority and as an autonomous political entity. I'm part of the college, which forms the executive power of the province, I debate committee items on the council agenda, and I work with the departments on everything within my remit (emergency response zones, inter-municipal cooperation, buildings, territorial transition, energy, public procurement). Above all, I see the role of provincial MP as a link serving the municipalities, a facilitator of pooling and networking. At least, that's how I intend to approach it!
If you could wave a magic wand and implement one important measure at the provincial level, which one would you choose?
It's not so much the measure itself but rather its impact. I'd like every municipality, from Fernelmont to Couvin, to benefit equally from the province's services and actions, so that it reaches all 38 municipalities without distinction. And if I were truly a fairy godmother with no budget limit (though that really is a dream), I'd multiply the mobile mental health intervention teams in our municipalities, given the general psychosocial context and the glaring needs.
With your two terms as alderwoman for culture, you know the municipality like the back of your hand! For those coming to Beauraing, what are the must-sees?
I love Beauraing so much! The must-see is the Castel, our municipal park, ravaged by a tornado in 2021, which we redeveloped with a lovely, wheelchair-accessible route, also great for children. Then, whether you're a believer or not, a small detour to the shrine, a witness to our religious past linked to the Apparitions. Next, a visit to the hamlet of Revogne with its Lomprez gate, a remnant of medieval glory. Finally, a stop in Pondrôme, where I live, for some shopping at the little shop on the square and then at the butcher's. To soak up that simplicity, that rural character I'm so attached to. You'll definitely come back!