Pays du Grand Bergeracois Association
The Pays du Grand Bergeracois Association was created in 1998 with the aim of grouping together all activities concerned with the development of the area, the ‘Pays’.

The backbone of the association is its Board of Directors made up of regional and general councillors, the governmental representative - the local M.P. (deputé) - and socio-economic representatives; the political leanings of the Board are totally mixed.


The Pays du Grand Bergeracois : An operational Pays

1. Acceptance of the proposed boundaries

In 2000 the Regional Prefect decided that conditions were ripe for the approval of the proposed boundaries of the Pays du Grand Bergeracois. The General (or County) Council, the Regional (or Local) Council and the Departmental Commission for Inter-Commune Co-operation therefore accepted the boundaries of the Pays du Grand Bergeracois on 20 October, 20 November and 13 December respectively.
The next step was for the Commission for Regional Development and Improvement
(CRADT) to approve the decree which it duly and unanimously did the 26 January 2001.
Official recognition of the boundaries was decreed by order of the Prefect on 8 March 2001; they include the 159 communes which make up arrondissement - the departmental administrative subdivision - of Bergerac.

2. Setting up a Development Council

The communes and starting forces behind the pays were, in May 2001, summoned by their general councillor to decide together on a list of representatives of the pays.
Each list proposed between 10 and 15 people chosen from society in general (40 odd for the town of Bergerac) to form the Development Council and its working parties.
The Pays du Grand Bergeracois Board of Directors approved the proposition of each canton (administrative district) on 31 July 2001. The 350 members were then divided into four bodies : administrative, economic, social fabric and associated members.
The communes included within the boundaries of the pays were summoned on 10 August 2001 and given two months - according to LOADDT law regulations - to officially validate the list and thus permit creation of the Development Council on 10 November 2001. Over 200 people attended this meeting held at Bergerac Cultural Centre.
Fifteen working parties were established along the following lines :


Working Parties :
ECONOMY
Promote sustainable agriculture. Revitalise trade, industry, commerce and the service sector. Encourage new businesses to set up in the area. Promote the development and use of new technologies. Develop an important tourist economy.

SOCIAL FABRIC AND ISSUES
Help and support all age sectors of the population - from infancy to old age. Help and support the financially/socially deprived. Establish a cultural policy. Support education, adapt and reinforce training schemes. Promote sports and leisure activities.

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

Improve access to the area and movement within it. Establish a housing policy. Safeguard and manage the countryside and environment. Value architectural heritage. Improve the quality of life (the quality of the water and air, the management of refuse, pollution, air pollution etc.)

A co-ordination committee whose main function is to organise the working parties has been elected for the period of one year. The committee is co-presided by Josie Bayle, President of Bergerac Shopkeepers Federation, and Alain Brettes, business director, and has 25 members taken from the « Economy » and « Social Fabric » bodies of the Development Council.
The working parties will meet mid-January 2002 to decide upon the charter to be established by mid-June.


3. The First Research

-Help with Establishing a Charter
Based upon requirements approved by the Board of Directors on 16 November 2001, the Pays du Grand Bergeracois, decided to employ a research consultancy to help establish a methodological approach to the charter and duly did so in the first trimester of 2002.

-Regional Tourism Survey
Based upon requirements approved by the Board of Directors on 15 October 2001, the Pays du Grand Bergeracois, decided to employ a research consultancy to carry out a survey about regional tourism and duly did so in the first trimester of 2002.

-Regional Strategy for Employment and Economic Development
The aim of the study is to situate economy and employment (offers and requests) and hence also training requirements, within the wider context of regional development, and try to equate business needs with local employment possibilities. This should be viewed as a long term policy over a period of years.

It is simply a case of qualifying and quantifying resources in order to be able to envisage appropriate training programmes, reinsertion in employment programmes and economic development, and to be able to clearly define employment and economic aims over the coming three years.

The requirements needed for this study to be carried out in 2002 are being established.

Regional Housing Study
Housing is one of the most important aspects in revitalising the area.
Much thought must be given to this issue for the problems and challenges to be addressed and relevant solutions to be found. It is important to define the Pays du Grand Bergeracois’ housing policy strategy.



The ‘Pays’ is Officially Recognised by:

• The State (The Department of Trade and Artisans)
• Regional Development Agency, DATAR
• Deposit and Consignment Office
• Aquitaine Regional Council
• Dordogne General Council
.... who all have confidence in the future of our ‘pays’.