- Title: French man tries to revive "ghost village" emptied by airport traffic
- Date: 21st September 2018
- Summary: GOUSSAINVILLE-VIEUX-PAYS, FRANCE (SEPTEMBER 19, 2018) (REUTERS) SINGAPORE AIRLINES AIRBUS A380 JUMBO JET TAKING OFF OVER VILLAGE VARIOUS OF HOUSE FALLEN INTO DISUSE AIR FRANCE AIRBUS A380 JUMBO JET FLYING OVER PHILIPPE VIELLIARD, WHO HEADS A COMMITTEE FIGHTING FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE OLD VILLAGE OF GOUSSAINVILLE, WALKING IN EMPTY STREET VIELLIARD LOOKING AT BRICKED UP WINDOW (SOUNDBITE) (French) PRESIDENT OF THE COMMITTEE FIGHTING FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE OLD VILLAGE OF GOUSSAINVILLE, PHILIPPE VIELLIARD, SAYING: "Since 1973 we have been asking for the bricks to be taken down from the houses so that the village - which is not a ghost town - can get a new lease of life with all the houses being used."
- Embargoed: 5th October 2018 10:48
- Keywords: Ghost town abandoned village Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport airplanes noise environment
- Location: GOUSSAINVILLE-VIEUX-PAYS AND ROISSY-EN-FRANCE, FRANCE
- City: GOUSSAINVILLE-VIEUX-PAYS AND ROISSY-EN-FRANCE, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Environment
- Reuters ID: LVA0018YKL9P5
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: It's the roaring noise of the huge aircrafts taking off over this small French village that pushed nearly everyone out.
Dubbed the "Ghost town", most of the houses are now abandoned, graffiti covering the walls, wall-paper hanging off and vegetation invading the ruins.
It all started in the 1970s with the building of Paris' Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport, the largest in Europe then. The first runway was right in line with Goussainville-Vieux-Pays, a typical French village victim of modernity.
Aeroports de Paris (ADP) were forced to buy the houses of those who wished to leave, and the population dropped from 1000 souls to just 300.
But one man is still hoping to bring back some life into the place. 68-year-old Philippe Vielliard was one of those who decided to stay despite the constant noise over his head. He has since been fighting the desertion to bring back people in.
Goussainville townhall was able in 2009 to buy the houses back from ADP for a symbolic sum of one euro. But Vielliard says the mayor finds the task too big to start renovating the many wrecked buildings.
Vielliard said that over the past forty years, many ideas were put on the table in order to attract people back.
Several projects to save the town looked at dedicating the village to books, to artisan work and even a more controversial idea of a place for people with hearing impairment.
Today with 350 villagers - a slight increase - local residents have learned to live with it. The noise is just something they have got used to.
Veronique was born in Goussainville and is still quite happy living here.
Vielliard argues that the noise isn't as bad as it used to be. Plane engines are more silent today and Roissy has since opened three extra runways, reducing the traffic on the flight path over the village.
And with the pressure of the housing market around the French capital, Vielliard hopes his fight won't be in vain and that the ghosts will soon leave too. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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