Dear All,

You may or may not be aware of certain rumours going around about the Abbey of Lagrasse. Here is the latest information:

The current owner of the private part of the abbey (tour, cloitre, eglise), Mr Pregizer, is selling his shares to a group of ‘right-wing extremist' monks who have already moved in, having paid a deposit.  As soon as we heard of this potential sale a few weeks ago, we contacted Mr Pregizer to tell him that we were more than interested in buying his shares, but he does not wish to sell to us, for reasons that he does not disclose.   In view of the considerable problems that the Mairie had with Mr Pregizer (ending with the visit of the private part being closed through his unwillingness to negotiate/participate in the joint expenses) and the fact that during the 10 years that he has owned the building he has not done any necessary urgent structural work, meaning that in several parts the building is in a dangerous condition, the council, with the support of Marcel Rainaud, the President  of the Conseil General de l'Aude, has voted to request a Declaration d'Utilite Publique (DUP), as they feel that the totality of this property should be in the hands of the State, as no matter who owns the currently private part, there will always be a potential conflict of interests.  It will be argued that the Abbey is essential to  the economic development of Lagrasse and surrounding areas and as a Monument Historique, part of the patrimoine of Lagrasse, needs to be maintained and further developed.  If we received this DUP then this would be followed by an expropriation of the current owners, after negotiations for compensation have been agreed.  The President of the Conseil General has publicly stated that he will make the necessary money available to obtain the Abbey.  There is already a very exciting cultural and economic project ready and waiting should the commune be able to purchase it.

Public pressure is very important in this issue – there has already been a lot of local media interest.  If you feel you can support the Mairie's action, then an email and/or letter from you would be very useful.  The Mairie email address is : Mairielagrasse@wanadoo.fr

and the mailing address is : Place de la Halle, 11220 Lagrasse.  Address them to Monsieur le Maire or Jean-Paul OLIVE if you prefer.