The Western Hainaut is an under-area of the Kingdom of Belgium. As its name indicates it, it is located in the western part of the Province of Hainaut. It is thus also an under-area of the Walloon region.

Following the reform of inter-commune the installation by the Walloon region, there was a political will to re-elect this under-area in order to federate the communes of Western Hainaut around the same political project of economic development. Several names thus followed one another: Tournaisis, Walloon Picardy and Picardy Wallonia. The incapacity to federate the whole of the communes of Western Hainaut (in particular by the reserves mouscronnoises) as well as the absence of dialog with the population concerned make that the various projects of changes of name are followed without much success.

Constitutive communes

Alphabetically, here the communes which constitute Western Hainaut: Antoing, Ath, Belœil, Bernissart, Brugelette, Brunehaut, Those, Chièvres, Comines-Warneton, Ellezelles, Enghien, Estaimpuis, Flobecq, Frasnes-lez-Anvaing, Stinginesses, Leuze-in-Hainaut, Mount-with-the Enclus, Mouscron, Pecq, Péruwelz, Rumes, Silly and Turned.

Geography

Western Hainaut is often presented in the form of a crossroads between the France (the Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Lille), the Flemish Région, Brussels and the Walloon region.

There exist different " pays" within Western Hainaut: the Country of the Hills (around Ellezelles), the White Country (around Antoing), the Green Country (around Ath), the Tournaisis (around Turned), etc…

Principal characteristics of the under-area

The first fundamental characteristic of Western Hainaut is its landscape: the area is remained green contrary to the two close under-areas which are the Borinage and the Center. Those indeed were strongly industrialized thanks to their basement rich in Houille. Western Hainaut, even if he knew and knows always an industrialization, setting part of its development while being presented in the form of a traditionally agricultural area: it is the concept of the Agro-Food Valley.

The second characteristic of this under-area is its endogenous language: the Picardy . The Picardy one is a whole of dialects and patois Romance which were spoken in the counties about Flanders and of Hainaut. Western Hainaut is not the only area of Belgium where one speaks Picardy but it is the only one where the speech is identified and asserted as tel. the close Borinage refers thus to its dialect while speaking about " patois borain".

But if this feature is also divided by good number of areas of Belgium, the third characteristic of Western Hainaut is its " spirit of clocher" : its inhabitants tend to feel more attached to their commune or their village that in Western Hainaut, the province of Hainaut or the Walloon region. Its entities are indeed very young and gather territories with the stories sometimes very different. Thus, Western Hainaut gathers communes which formerly formed part of the counties of Flanders and Hainaut.

History of name

Western Hainaut

Name " Hainaut occidental" go back to the Sixties. It is known as that this one was found by a geographer a little by defect (the western part of Hainaut). This one nevertheless was essential everywhere:

• Within the media: The official name of local television is " No TV, regional and Community Television of Hainaut occidental"
• Within the political parties of French-speaking Belgium which have " federations; Hainaut Occidental" The PS and the MR..
• Within the social organizations such as the trade unions and reciprocities: the CSC, the CGSLB and socialist reciprocity.
• Within economic and professional associations: The Chamber of commerce and of Industry of Western Hainaut, the Royal Association of the Architects of Western Hainaut, the Company of Development and Participation of Western Hainaut * Within higher education, whether it is in the free network or the official network: High private school of Western Hainaut (HELHO) and High provincial school of Western Hainaut (HEPHO) * Within the associative medium: The league of the families just like has regional a Hainaut Occidental the League of Teaching and Further education, the French-speaking Federation of the Deaf persons of Belgium (FFSB), the rural Foundation of Wallonia,…
• …

Walloon Picardy or Picardy hennuyère

The idea to change name into Walloon Picardy or Picardy hennuyère was launched in October 2004 by the Minister for health, Rudy Demotte.

If it were followed by certain actors, the idea did not have a great success because the population was associated at all with the project but also because no other party which the PS had not been consulted.

The president of the federation Western Hainaut of MR., Jean-Luc Crucke had put this small critical text besides on his Web site HTTP: /www.jl-crucke.be/:
Picardy Wallonia? Walloon Picardy? What do you say some?
Western Hainaut: let us speak! Some would like the débaptiser and to name “Walloon Picardy” or “Picardy Wallonia”. Does no one of will dispute our Picardy origins but need one a renewal of frontage? The MR. federation decided: no change of identity can intervene without the downstream and the consultation of the population concerned. Essence is not in an operation marketing but in a basic work.
In this respect, we should note that it is the job which misses and which neither Wallonia, neither Hainaut, nor Western Hainaut, as well as possible do not go of their form.

The use of the term “Picardy Wallonia” by certain regional actors can be connected with a form of snobbery of the innovation or a pro-Demotte attitude but is to forget a little quickly that it was necessary almost two decades so that “Western Hainaut” is not essential and enters the collective thought. It would be prejudicial, in term of effectiveness and range of image, not to reflect on the effective pertience of a name and to continue to make use of " the ancien" and of the " potentially nouveau" name.

Representation as a whole of Wallonia of the Picardy Wallonia :

Picardy Wallonia