With the coronavirus crisis, the ticket office of the domain of the caves of Han has temporarily moved from the center of the village to a plain near the caves, 3 months ago, in order to better respect social distancing. The authorization has just come to an end and the operating company intends to request an extension of it until the end of 2020. But the final will for the domain of the caves of Han is to permanently set up their premises there.
In Han-sur-Lesse, there are two clans: that of the reformers and that of the dreamers. On the one hand, the domain of the caves of Han which wishes to move its reception offices and its ticket office to the plain of Dry Hamptay, located a few hundred meters away. On the other, some traders and residents who are worried about no longer seeing tourists in the center of the village with this probable move. Jean-Pol Henin is one of them, although he lives largely thanks to the tourist activity generated by the caves of Han, he says he is concerned about this project. “We are absolutely not against the caves of Han, we have lived with the caves of Han for tens, even hundreds of years. But for us, this project will destroy the trade in Han-sur-Lesse, because what ‘you should know is that the tourist has always frequented the center of the village. This relocation towards the plain keeps the tourist away from our shops “, he explains. The area of the caves had benefited, for 3 months, from a special authorization to install a ticket office and various containers on the plain of Dry Hamptay. This expires on August 21, but the management fully intends to extend his stay.
A provisional permit in addition to a permit application
Brigitte Malou, managing director of the Han Caves domain, hopes to obtain an extension of this permit until the end of the tourist year, in December 2020. In parallel with this, another request will be made to the municipality of Rochefort to permanently set up its premises there. “We have an application for a permit which was submitted, 3 years ago, to permanently install the ticket office and departures at this location. […] The impact study requested by the municipality is now complete, so we are going to re-submit a final permit request to build on the plain. With our premises in the center of the village, we came to the conclusion that it was impossible to welcome our visitors in an acceptable manner “, explains Brigitte Malou.
Contacted by us, Corine Mullens, the mayor of Rochefort, wishes to take the time to analyze the situation from all angles, with the municipal college, before giving any opinion on the matter. Anyway, this project will not be easy …
–
