It is a splendid wooded park of about forty hectares, described as as exceptional on the natural level as on the heritage level. In Cellier (Loire-Atlantique), on the banks of the Loire, the park of the Château de Clermont, formerly owned by actor Louis de Funès, will change hands. This summer, a sales agreement was signed between the current owner and a couple of inhabitants of the town who wish to install a broodmare there. Enough to worry residents and associations of all kinds, attached to this place of running, walking and calm, which has always remained open to the public.
“This time, we are afraid of no longer being able to access it, fears Aloïs Robinard, president of the association In the footsteps of Louis de Funès. We must preserve this historical heritage where the soul of Louis de Funès continues to live on! Like others, the association has been asking the town hall for several weeks to pre-empt these lands, and has launched a petition on line. And not only in tribute to the actor, who regularly came to rest there and spent his last years there, before being buried in the cemetery of the town. “A large part of the Clermont park is classified as a sensitive natural area”, pleads for its part the association Kind regards, also favorable to a preemption. Several “exceptional” and sometimes “protected” plant and animal species have been identified on the site.
The mayor does not wish to preempt
The mayor of Cellier, Philippe Morel was not convinced to buy the site first for economic reasons (the sale price of the land is 240,000 euros). But also by these arguments developed by Christophe Allain, the general director of the services of the municipality: “The owner also assured us of the durability of the access to the hiking trails and remarkable accesses of the park. The place has always been private but always open to the public, there is no reason for that to change. The buyer will use 15 hectares to breed around ten racehorses. He is a long-time Cellarian and he too is very attached to the place and its tranquility. »
For the associations, the town hall should take advantage of this sale to think about a real tourist project to revitalize the town, six years after the closure of the Louis museum, which had housed the castle of Clermont for some time. “Instead, the mayor prefers to vote for the construction of a car park for one million euros,” regrets Aloïs Robinard, who even wrote a letter to his deputy to alert him to the situation. According to Christophe Allain, pre-emption is no longer possible anyway, the period having “elapsed since October 1”.