France-World | A controversial hobbit castle integrated by a homeless near Toulouse
A miniature castle made of recycled foam captivates walkers near Toulouse, but its creator, a homeless man who lives there, has been ordered to dismantle it, a decision he refuses to comply with, AFP reported on Wednesday.
More than two meters high, passers-by see it as a “hedgehog house”, a “hut of hobbits” or “elves”, but on Christmas Eve, it received a formal notice from the town hall of Tournefeuille, to evacuate the premises.
“It makes you grumble, it doesn’t bother anyone, and it’s nice, frankly”, plague Laurent Mahout, 38, a resident of this residential suburb of Toulouse, who is used to taking his 6-year-old daughter there. on Sundays, a day during which David, the 53-year-old homeless man, organizes creative workshops for children on a voluntary basis.
The fairytale-like cabin appeared on the banks of the Touch River in the spring, adjoining a public footpath marked by sports enthusiasts and walkers.
The construction, lined with trees and fake lampposts and a stuffed animal tree, is in reality a makeshift house for the homeless, a former camp leader or leisure centre.
“One day an elderly lady passed in front of my tent and said to me: + It’s not very clean +. (…) So I integrated that”, explains with a smile David, who wished to silence his surname.
In the street for a year and a half, after his apartment was squatted, he hopes to stay in his home until the end of winter and rails against the method used by the town hall to dislodge him.
Made only of foam, recovered from a waste dumpster, then cut and repainted by him, the shelter was gradually transformed into a real miniature castle. “I did this for passers-by, he said. It’s still more pleasant to see than a tent”.
“The hut has evolved over the months, it’s great, it’s magic,” reports Souhail Amirouch, 28, a resident of the neighborhood, who did not know “that someone lived in it”.
“It’s made of foam, so if it catches fire the person can die and it could spread”, fears a spokesperson for the town hall, specifying that in the event of a fire, “the responsibility of the mayor could be engaged” because the hut is on the public domain.
However, the municipality defends itself from pushing the man to the street. “The formal notice is extended until we find a solution,” she said, adding that she wanted to “deal with the social aspect” before deciding on the fate of the makeshift shelter.