Putting my village back on its feet by rebuilding its remparts

Recognising the human need to put down one's roots, and faced with the dilapidation of his small village Salives in Burgundy, including the sudden collapse of its ancestral keep, Alain Houpert, mayor since 1995, decided to start renovation work. He devised a strategy and started trying to raise money and apply for grants, despite local pessimism and administrative difficulties. He managed to restore the keep and the fortified walls. His success made people change their minds and gave him credibility in the eyes of institutions which enabled him to gain their support in order to build a cultural centre and rented accommodation. Little by little, the village started basking in its newfound glory. Village shops and a medical centre for Alzheimer sufferers were built thereby providing jobs for a female workforce likely to attract mothers and housewives who lived locally. Year after year, Alain Houpert, who has since become a councillor and a senator, is making his intuitive vision of the necessary balance between town and countryside a reality.