Dear Friends of military History
Already in September 2008, we appealed to many of you in order to save the historic Quatre-Bras farm, maybe the last witness of the famous battle of 16 June 1815 (two day before Waterloo), from destruction. It is located at the crossroads of the roads from Namur to Nivelles and from Brussels to Charleroi, and also served as a hospital after the battle.
Our appeal met a great success and thanks to your massive response, the project was rejected and the authorization to destroy the historic farm turned down.
Now, two years later, the owner, a property developer, has introduced a new request to destroy the farm buildings in order to build new houses and offices.
Again, we have to stand up against this project and express our disapproval of it. We already had some important support from the French side, but we desperately need British and Dutch support too! If some British and Dutch (Napoleonic or military) associations would care to send a letter to both "Communal Administrations", we are sure this could have some impact!
The farm being located at the border of two districts, the e-mails and/or letters of rejection have to be addressed to the two municipalities:
- at Genappe: by e-mail at: info@genappe.be
and/or by mail at:
Au Collège Communal,
Espace 2000, 3,
B-1470 Genappe
Belgium
- at Villers-la-Ville: by e-mail at olivier.vantielen@publilink.be and valerie.damanet@publilink.be , the two local officials in charge of the town planning at Villers-la-Ville. (If one of these addresses gives an error message, please try again, their mailbox has already been saturated once.)
BEFORE 22 FEBRUARY 2011 (after that date, it's too late).
Don't forget to mention your complete name and address. This is compulsory for your request to be accepted.
You can write in English or get some inspiration here, from our press release in French:
http://napoleon-monuments.eu/MONUMENTSENPERIL/20110210CommuniqueQuatre-Bras.doc Only a few weeks after the theft of the Christ at the Hougoumont farm
http://napoleon-monuments.eu/Napoleon1er/ChristGoumont_EN.htm and of the commemorative stone on the south wall of the Quatre-Bras farm
http://napoleon-monuments.eu/MONUMENTSENPERIL/Quatre-Bras_EN.htm#Stone , we can not allow the new act of - what some of you very eloquently called – historical barbarism to happen.
Thank you to inform us of any action or letter at dominique.timmermans@skynet.be, so that I can keep you informed of any development.
Many thanks in advance.
Yours sincerely.
Dominique Timmermans
Maj (R)
In French:
http://napoleon-monuments.eu/ In English:
http://napoleon-monuments.eu/Napoleon1er/index_EN.htm Latest developments here:
http://napoleon-monuments.eu/MONUMENTSENPERIL/Quatre-Bras_EN.htm (Coverage in the Belgian press on our page in French:
http://napoleon-monuments.eu/MONUMENTSENPERIL/Belgique.htm)