Since announcing that she would not run in the 2026 municipal elections, the mayor of Chantilly continues to receive thanks for the work accomplished and his commitment to the Cantiliens. But this Saturday, January 11, Isabelle Wojtowiez absolutely received a standing ovation at the end of his greetings speech.
“In Chantilly, despite a difficult budgetary context, we have invested a lot in 2024,” the chief magistrate immediately indicates. In 2025, we will maintain the quality of our services while remaining prudent on our investments. Who can imagine precisely what our future holds for us? However, this evening my duty as mayor is to wish, to plan, despite everything that worries us, the best for Chantilly and for the residents of Cantilly. I believe that we must first, each in our own place, do our best so that we live every day in a reassuring environment.”
An elected official who prefers listening and dialogue
Then, Isabelle Wojtowiez returned to her health problems which were for her “an opportunity to reflect on the conditions in which a mayor commits himself and receives the trust of his fellow citizens, while evaluating the means he mobilizes to lead the project”. The elected official says she “has taken stock of the distance that the use of social networks inevitably creates and the estrangement that it can cause for part of our population. I prefer listening and direct dialogue with as many people as possible. I measured differently, perhaps better, the essential character of the proximity of the relationships which must unite a mayor and his fellow citizens, of the personal dimension which must mark this relationship and our commitment, of the indispensable nature of meetings between people, of the need to experience celebrations and difficulties together.”
For the woman who is also a departmental councilor, the milestone remains the municipal project on which she and her team were elected in 2020. “It reflects our vision of Chantilly for the medium term: an attentive and supportive city, a safe and quiet city, an attractive and dynamic city, a city concerned about the environment, a city that is building its future.”
The station, one of the major assets of Chantilly
For many years, the existing municipality has worked to promote the major asset that is the station because it constitutes one of the levers of the city’s attractiveness. “It’s a 15 or 20 year project in which Chantilly has been involved for 10 years already,” recalls the mayor. You know that it is a multi-partnership project with Europe, the Region, the department, the Community of Municipalities (which now has “Transport” competence) and with the SNCF. The studies are finished. You saw the first elements begin with the development of the parking lots. The work on the station square, between now and the end of the first half of the year, will completely renew this site used every day by thousands of users. It is the city of Chantilly which is responsible for project management in collaboration with the Community of Communes of the Cantilienne Area (CCAC). Then, in 2027-2028, the platforms will be brought up to standard, and in particular PRM access. Then will come the tour of the bus station and the creation of new cycle paths.”
A new neighborhood is born
In the immediate vicinity of this station, not so long ago there were fallow SNCF lands. “In less than 10 years, on these wastelands, we designed and built a new neighborhood,” emphasizes Isabelle Wojtowiez. The city encouraged developers to work there and, now, 300 homes are inhabited there. We have created a local “health” center there which has been enriched with a pharmacy and a high-performance radiology practice. To complete the coherence of the neighborhood project, we purchased part of the economic land to establish businesses and perhaps a public service. And this district is today served by the free Chantilly bus. Creating a new neighborhood also means building our future.”
However, the existing municipality does not hand over the city of Chantilly to developers. “We want to preserve our quality heritage and our urban balance,” specifies the elected official. Housing is one of the keys to our future in Chantilly. We have done a lot and we will continue. But what is not seen is what we also do for people, for housing assistance, to fight against unsanitary housing, for those who do not even have housing at all or for those who are in an emergency situation.”
