We have discovered by pure accident that the council are planning to locate the chasse clubhouse 38m from our property (bought 2014 and where we live). Which is also across the from the village down our dead end access lane (communal). We are the only residents down this lane with 2 neighbours from the village who have a veg plot. The land is owned by the mayor who is selling it to the commune for the chasse, 2 of whom sit on a council of eleven.
The mayor, deputy and second deputy I spotted 2 Saturdays ago walking around an open air hanger building on the mayors land. Said good morning but they never came to chat.
We discovered this project the day before we were signing a compromis, which the mayor new about, to buy our neighbourās (who sadly passed away) house, barn and veg plot. I immediately went and challenged the mayor who said twice it is ādefinitivementā.
A reunion of the council was quickly announced for this Friday only after I asked the mayor if there going to be a notice on the board outside āla mairieā, it appeared an hour later.
A petition (17 signatures) has been sent to the mayor and council members on Wednesday last with a letter, detailing concerns, asking for a public meeting for all voices to be heard.
The distance is from the corner of our building. The proposed new site is an old hanger, open sided (all 4 sides) structure used to store plough machinery.
We live on an old farm, of which we own two thirds with our cats . There are a lot of dog breeders in the area and we wanted negate the possibility of someone setting up a business on the farm. The farm has a shared courtyard. The main farm house was split into two, for brother ans sister so was never structured as separate houses. The dividing wall is only 100 mm. Thus the need to buy the remaining third of the farm.
The chasse president and his son on the council are a good friend of ours, but the mud, the dogs barking and howling, the vehicles noise of an extra 5000 movements a season up and down our lane are not!
Anyone with any helpful advice to offer, especially if thereās a conflict of interest between the chasse and the council, please offer a comment.
There has to be Planning Permission to change the Hangar into a Buildingā¦
Has this been obtained??
If not obtained yet, you can make written objections (sent by recorded delivery)
Speak directly with the Maire and other councillorsā¦ tell them of your concerns and follow up in writing.
If you feel there is any conflict of interest which be adversely affecting all thisā¦ speak with your member of the National Assembly or similarā¦ much higher up the tree than the Maire and usually has a local āsurgeryā ā¦
Thanks for that input. Some of this we have already started and the mayor has back pedalled and agreed to a public consultation for the whole village to take part, this she is putting to the council tonight with our petition signatories present.
The info about going further up the tree and surgeries is helpful.
Our cabanne de chasse does not have 5000 movements up and down a season. On hunt days people meet where they are hunting, and generally only a few vehicles take the carcasses to the cabanne to be butchered and stored.
About 4 times a year there will be a mass meal, and sometimes on sundays there will be 10 to 15 meeting for lunch if they are hunting.
We use the cabanne for community events too, so the easter egg hunt starts and finishes there with tea for the kids.
Obviously it is not as close to us as yours, but they are not a nightmare. The biggest issue to raise is disposal of the remains of carcasses as what you really, really donāt want (which I have seen by another cabanne de chasse) is an oil drum full of meat bits that attracts flies.
You need to decide whether to fight tooth and nail, or negotiate very stringent conditions of use.
The application should be displayed for public perusal at the Mairie, take a copy and write your letter of concernā¦ detailing all the reasons why you DONT want permission to be granted. Make sure your reasons are not emotional but serious concernsā¦
Itās not something Iāve ever had to doā¦but doubtless others will have good ideas.
Thanks for your input and your advice regarding the animal waste.
After hearing the news I went round to the chasse president, a freind of ours, with a bottle of wine and spent and hour and a half talking. He told me it would 3 visits a day, 3 days a week. I listened, he listened, we chatted and parted as friends.
I donāt know if your cabanne was already in existence or not when you bought the property. Weāve had 8 years of peace and quiet.
Importantly, the chemin needs to be upgraded to full specifications in view of the possible traffic/vehiclesā¦ Will this be done and who will pay for this?
From experience, whilst folk might well promise only xyz trajets per day/week/month,
once permission is granted there is no way to backtrack and sayā¦ butā¦ butā¦ you said only blah blah blah.
What is the building to be used for?
Will it have a cold-store and necessary hygiene for butchery etc.
Will weapons and/or ammunition be stored there.
Will the building have its own private parking or will vehicles be parking in the public chemin/road.
these are just a few questions which spring to mindā¦
I can very well imagine if all the parties concerned are born and bred in the area/village, itāll be a bit of an uphill battle, as if they formally consult the locals they will most probably be accepting to avoid ruffling local feathers and to maintain a status quo, unless they would be materially affected, as it sounds like you would be. You mentioned 17 signatures have been obtained, which sounds like a relatively small number, but what proportion of the village is that? What Iāve experienced in my village is that certain folks do seem to somehow manage to avoid the ārule bookā that the majority need to abide by. On the face of it, if you want to take it further, I would expect escalation is the route, but that also comes with obvious downsides in respect of local relationships.
If it was me, I would want to know up to which stage/timing it would still be possible to intervene with the escalation route, to avoid being presented one day with a āfait accompliā, and to dimension how much time I had to pursue a solution through a ālocal negotiationā.
