As the new mayor of the municipality of Silly, Violaine Herbaux juggles daily between her life as a mother, her duties within the MR Presidency and the local responsibilities she carries out with enthusiasm.
Following the elections of 13 October 2025, you took charge of your municipality. During this term, what are the main projects you will implement?
The term got off to a flying start. We are fortunate to be able to carry out a whole series of projects initiated under the previous administration. This has allowed work to begin on a 60-space car park and a hall in the centre of Silly. Two nursery projects are also underway: building a new nursery with 28 places and extending and renovating another. We are also renovating one of our 6 municipal schools. Renovation work on another school should begin within a few weeks. We will also complete the Pré-ravel path linking Ghislenghien to Bassilly, and so on. We are also working on a project aimed at going beyond synergies between the municipality and the CPAS so as to be ready for 2030. In short, we have many projects for the next 6 years. The question of budgetary balance, given that transfer expenditure keeps rising, will obviously be fundamental.
You have known your municipality for a long time and have seen it evolve. What should Silly look like tomorrow?
Silly must remain a rural municipality, a good place to live. Preserving its rural character will involve managing land-use planning. Defining central areas and maintaining the appeal of each village will be at the heart of our concerns.
We will work to ensure that Silly remains a village with a strong range of services for citizens and associations (local shops, cultural offerings, schools, nurseries, etc.), so as to maintain the quality of life and sense of community so dear to our villages.
You are a mother and mayor, with an undoubtedly busy schedule. How do you manage to combine family life and public life?
I have always felt there was an element of vocation in the mandate I hold today. So I experience it very naturally. My family life and my professional life are closely intertwined. But when I really want to switch off, I leave Silly for a few days to be with my family. That allows me to step away for a while from the political and/or civic conversations I encounter every day while walking around Silly. And for day-to-day organisation, I can rely on my parents and in-laws, who help my husband and me enormously to thrive in our professional roles.
The proximity of Pairi Daiza is an opportunity for the region, but also a source of pressure on local mobility. How do you tackle these challenges?
Indeed, many residents of Silly regularly visit Pairi Daiza park. It is also a lever for developing our local economy, particularly tourism. That said, I cannot accept or envisage a future project for a new “Pairi Daiza route” sending visitors through the villages of Silly. We must therefore find a balance: preserving the peace and quiet of Silly's residents as much as possible, while also accepting that every neighbouring municipality, Silly included, absorbs part of the mobility linked to the park.
You also work within the MR Presidency. How does this dual role help you serve your municipality better, and conversely, what does your local grounding bring to your national vision?
I have been an adviser within the Presidency for 10 years. I have naturally made wonderful connections and learned enormously alongside Olivier Chastel and now Georges-Louis Bouchez. I have also had the chance to work with many MPs, to take part in drafting election manifestos, writing hundreds of policy notes, and building government agreements, and so on. These experiences have taught me a great deal about how political bodies work, and this learning helps me daily in analysing and approaching local matters. Conversely, it is useful to be able to pass on to the national level the challenges and difficulties encountered locally. This dual role is extremely interesting and, I hope, useful both to the municipality of Silly and to the MR Presidency.