Following a petition which collected 5,280 signatures, lawmakers on Wednesday 21 October in the Chamber of Deputies debated the possibility of better protecting national heritage. A bill is already being studied in the parliament's committee on culture. 

Petitioners are also calling for the protection of all structures dating from before 1955, expressing concerns about seeing many buildings--private or industrial--disappear in favour of new constructions.

Towards an independent observatory?

Their objective is not that these sites can never be touched, but at least that they be subject to an expertise by the sites and monuments service. To justify this request, they explained that often the public authority's reaction to building projects comes too late, after works to demolish old sites have already begun.

During the debate on Wednesday, MPs unanimously favoured better protection of heritage. But the idea of ​​automatic protection will be more complicated to implement.

According to culture minister Sam Tanson (Déi Gréng), this idea has already been rejected in the past due to legal uncertainty. It would be difficult to be able to prove with certainty the date of construction of a building.

In any case, the bill will continue its course. The idea would be to create an independent observatory to help the government and communes assess the heritage value of buildings and structures.

This article was originally published in French on Paperjam.lu and has been translated and edited for Delano.