You may in any case need to get official approval from the mairie to build a wall, it all depends on local regulations. If you do, they'll explain the rules, then you fill in a déclaration préalable explaining exactly where the wall will be, how high etc, and once they approve it you know it's ok to go ahead. Not all commumes require this but many do, you need to find out before you start building. So the mairie is the first place to go.
Hi dozza
Don’t stress !
If you put a hedge in it needs to be a certain distance from the boundary dependent on the height of the hedge.
Just an opinion as to why wood could be rejected, wood deteriorates over time, if not maintained. Stone and wire require no maintenance. Hedges can get out of hand, if allowed to grow, but can always be cut back.
Hi, just to give an update. Well good neighbour relations have been salvaged. Apparently I 'misunderstood' our first conversation .. my dear neighbour was just trying to give friendly advice to ensure I did not make a mistake and end up building something that would have to be taken down!
We have agreed on a wall (noting that both he and the other 2 neighbours also have similar walls in the area we are discussing) which will be nicely finished, as per the exterior of our house, and an adjoining wall. We now let our builder talk to the neighbour as she stops by every day to check progress.
The wall is between our house and the access area to 3 other villas, so it is not between us and any other private property (we already successfully built a fence together 2 years ago where our gardens meet).
I think it was important that my neighbour saw me getting very upset at his unreasonable behaviour. I am normally ultra polite and friendly, he realised he had crossed a boundary, and effectively backed dow (almost apologised). I really do not want a battle with nieghbours, and have on many times restrained my husband from having angry words over small things. So a happy end to the story.
But thank you to everyone who commented, this is the first time I have used this forum, I can see it is incredibly helpful.
And one final comment: we did not say a word when the neighbour cut down the hedge, even though it was to our clear disadvantage. We knew the neighbour owning the hedge was in dispute with the other 2 neighbours over the maintenance of the hedge, it was clearly to all their benefit just to get rid of it.
We just decided to organise our own solution, which is also to the beniefit of everyone (neat, tidy, low maintenance ... sorry to all hedge lovers!).
I am firmly in the camp of having good relations with all neighbours, no matter how difficult. We spent a painful 2 years trying to organising a joint road repair ... difficult, but we got there in the end. We don't need to be good friends, but we do need to be able to resolve problems in a constructive fashion.