Digital citizen consultation launched for the Collombey-Muraz and Monthey merger project

By October 2019, five citizens' workshops had enabled some 100 people to share their ideas and concerns with the municipal authorities. These meetings resulted in a report (which can be consulted on the websites of the administrations) which presented certain trends desired by the participants. The participants were thus able to guide the steering committee and the internal working groups, which continued the discussions between December 2019 and March 2020. Today, all the populations are invited to express their views on the guidelines of the pre-merger report. The HES-SO Valais-Wallis is accompanying this last stage through a stage of digital citizen consultation.

Digital citizen approach

Citizens are invited to complete a questionnaire in paper format or online. Coordinated by the company SEREC, the questionnaire is designed in two parts and on two different channels. The first part is distributed in paper format and online in all households. Its purpose is to take the pulse of the population on the follow-up to be given to the reflection.

The second part is exclusively available online and proposes to citizens who wish to take a position on the co-creation of a potential merged commune. The proposals put forward stem from the preliminary work carried out in the citizens' workshops and the four internal working groups ((1) Administration/Chancellery, (2) Identity/Governance/Economy, (3) Spatial planning/T&P/Energy, (4) Education/Health/Social).

Citizens will have one month to respond and send their feedback. The anonymity of participants is guaranteed. The HES-SO Valais-Wallis will operate the questionnaire via the consultation.hevs.ch platform.

The rest of the process

From May onwards, a summary of the results of the questionnaire will be included in the final report presented to the municipal authorities (General Councils). The City Councils will then decide whether they wish to continue the reflection and forward the file to the future Executives for the 2021-24 legislature. The merger could be effective as early as 2025.

Covid-19

The current health situation was not known when the popular consultation procedure was launched. The communal authorities decided to maintain it, as the chosen concept allows people to give their opinion on an individual basis while staying at home. The initially planned schedule (in particular the meetings of the General Councils) could be adapted according to the evolution of the epidemic.

Contact person: Matthieu Delaloye