Written by When the train is big, it’s because the carriages are numerous… So much so that when it enters the station, the parade makes you dizzy until you can only look at the carriage you’ll be able to get on.
And if the wagons represent the subjects of the Haut-Plateau, then yes, the train is so long that it’s easy to get lost.
Valpic invites you to take a little tour, or what we might call an “owner’s tour”! Are you ready?
Let’s start with the1st class carriages, normally the most expensive…
We have the 2027 World Ski Championships for around 30 million… It’s expensive for 2 weeks, but the result will depend on the ability to convert an ephemeral event into economic sustainability. A risky gamble, but isn’t the payoff (or the reverse) proportional to the risk?
Next on the list is the parking lot renewal project, costing around 80 million… Even if this project is handled off-balance sheet, as it is housed in a public limited company, the fact remains that the financial guarantee (and therefore the risk) will ultimately be borne by the taxpayer.
An intermediary wagon is hooked up, that of the tourist tax , which currently brings in 5 million and soon 8.5 million (per year) after increase. The logic behind this increase is doubly singular: the 3.5 million increase is intended to finance “half of the 8 million missing from tourism budgets”, but the future allocation of this additional levy is not defined…
So when the mists of political decisions cloud the understanding of candid minds, we often have to look to history for a little light:
On October 6, 1715, Jean-Claude Verraz, prior of Lens (at the time, the Grand Lens included the entire Haut-Plateau), stated: “… a thing must be maintained by those in whose favor the use is intended” (source: www.lens.ch)(at the time, this referred to bells and bell ropes).
If we extend this reasoning to the renovation of parking lots (aren’t they for “tourist” use), secondary residents risk indigestion…
District heating is a big, long wagon, with as many seats as there are open questions. It’s a 30-million heavyweight or mediumweight, with profitability dependent on world energy prices (wood is no exception), with the risk borne by the taxpayer, not to mention the environmental problems.
The Centre de Congrès Le Régent is a car that wants to keep a low profile. However, in private, everyone agrees on the need to rebuild this obsolete building from the ground up, and that it is essential for a town with a population ranging from 15,000 to over 50,000 during the season to have a convention center worthy of the name, a major driver of Crans-Montana’s appeal (and all year round…). It’s 30 million too, but it’s not for 2 weeks…
We arrive at the restaurant car, which serves a 2-course menu: the water bill and the electricity bill. The former has tripled, the latter has doubled… One imagines that the gastronomic guides have been there.
At the end of the train, we have 2 pushing locomotives:
The ski area and its new managers. Will they develop the energy we all expect to push this train of the future forward? The pragmatism announced is a good omen. Let’s have no doubt that their success will be everyone’s success too.
The golf course is the driving force behind the fine weather (although it’s “fine” here all year round, you might say). But there’s still the question of its surroundings (parking lots, driving range, clubhouse), the quality of which has yet to match that of the greens. Another 30 million to be invested, to push things even further…
At the end of the train are 2 cars, the unknown woman’s cars:
Cultural policy on the Haut-Plateau, whose funding has been tactfully and carefully selected for over a decade by the Fondation des Rencontres de Crans-Montana, which brings together a dozen volunteers who work tirelessly on the project. Suddenly, we see a municipal statement threatening a takeover including salaried municipal staff! The consequences of such a project would cut support for event organizers by more than a third, leading to future disasters and destroying a decade’s worth of diverse events that are Crans-Montana’s cultural signature. We hope we’ve misunderstood.
Replacing the rental value tax. The plan to abolish this tax (which has now been adopted) means that it will be replaced by a tax paid by secondary residents. The aim is to find the missing 85 million in Valais. So this is a wagon to keep a very close eye on…
Have we forgotten that a train has to run on rails to move forward? Certainly not, because for this train to move forward, we’ll need mobility rails: a rail hub, lateral cable links, an Aminona-Cry d’Er high-altitude link, complemented by modular shuttles and nodal transit areas – a major factor given the saturation of road infrastructure in our mountains. The project is estimated at 100 million euros, to increase public transport ridership from 4% to 20%, for an area (the Sierre district, which includes Crans-Montana and Anniviers) with 150,000 residents. And without the development of mobility, there will be no development of tourism, and therefore no development of what makes up two-thirds of the local economy.
So that’s a lot of wagons, some more heavily loaded than others… And still 4 questions: where’s the locomotive, who’s the driver, where does the coal come from, and who lays the rails?
The locomotive is you, it’s us, the citizens, the main residents (15,000) and secondary residents (40,000), our visitors and of course our shopkeepers and businesses. They are the driving force behind our economy, 2/3 of which comes from tourism.
Coal is taxes, which provide the energy for the moving train. Be careful, though, because if there’s too much coal in the tender, the train will get heavier and will need even more coal to move forward… ultimately slower and slower….
The driver is our Authorities, who must drive at the right speed and in safety, with wagons that run smoothly, without overloading, without stalling, and in the same direction.
Tracks are those laid on the path to attractiveness. Without them, there are no rails, and therefore no trains. Attractiveness is our treasure, a treasure that looks more like silver cutlery that needs regular polishing to ensure its value than gold coins made of snowflakes that may or may not fall at the whim of nature…
Pfffiiiittt! “Attention! Doors are closing! The Valpic train to Crans-Montana is about to leave! Next destination: your success!
Jean
January 2025 info@valpic.ch