hmm..thought you probably would have....well if it continues..maybe you need to get a bevy of young scantily clad girls in your garden..plenty of rap music....and see if they decide you are a house of disrepute and move on! tough one Mark...hoping it sorts itself out...we are all at the mercy of our neighbours..probably why so many people moving here want to be in splendid isolation...
Patsie outsiders have rights too! am sure non of us would be here if we expected to be walked all over because 'we dont come from here'....in rural France not coming from here..can mean 5 miles up the road....so you are foreign if you hail from a different village....
The Maire has a job....he might not like aspects of it...but if he is not doing as he should...there is a higher power he answers to...and maybe it would help you to try and make friends with the local farmers...if they are not voting for him...then there is a good reason...and you may get some support from that quarter.
and you are a 'bigot' because? you object to slum landlords? you object to illegal building? I am feeling more sorry for your predicament by the minute....you have very unsympathetic neighbours.....think I would be getting ready to move house about now...
I can only say that I feel for you, with regard to my own fencing problems etc., at the bottom of my land I spoke to one of my clients who lives in the same village as I. I said shall I go to the Maire and he said "he will do nothing". It seems to me that we are in the position of being the outsiders here, he wishes to have the locals vote for him (the neighbors are not farmers and the farmers here do not vote for him) so he will not go against them. There are land avocats here who may be able to advise you, we have an allowance in our insurance for legal problems - if you have this then I would see if you can work on the basis that they are running a business in a domestic setting. Are any other neighbors affected?
If your maire is not moving, then once you have sent him a written complaint (by LRAR) and still nothing happens, send a copy to the Prefecture (also LRAR), explaining that nothing is being done. This usually produces rapid response.
Also, if the 'guests' are effectively paying for their accomodation etc, then 25 seems to put this beyond the 'Chambres d'Hotes' level into the Hotel category - for which all sorts of rules have to be followed. Perhaps worth checking with your local chambre de commerce?
I recommend Sibelius' Symphony No 2 - it always worked for me!
right!
Do they have permission for business use of the premises and are they properly registered and insured? I believe that there has been a change on taxation on part use of a residential property as commercial. I know that mayors take action against rave music especially when it disresses cows or chickens. Better tell him your flock of geese has gone crazy and that may effect the foie gras production.
We are right in our village and just occasionally there's a fete or similar where noise and nuisance levels rise. They other day I helped clear the village square of broken glass, plastic bottles etc after our annual fete. However I did find an almost full crate of beer hidden a bush so I took possession of that. Generally it's much quieter than enduring the ceaseless screaming of sirens, aeroplane and traffic noise that one had sufferd in London. Sometimes it's toooooo quiet and the village looks completely empty and spooky.
On the bagpipes side of things I live in Brittany where they are pretty common but mainly at weekends and we have never been "troubled" by them. However when I lived in London in the very early 80s we did have a very noisy drug addict neighbour who insisted on playing da ragga at max level all night until............. I strapped my biggest speakers to the party wall and played him my Scottish country dancing music at 6am....job done.
Like!
Terrible admission...but the inability to seemingly get the simplest things done in France has nearly driven me to violence! with the roofer who put on our original roof and then refused to give us his insurance company details etc when the roof was still under guarantee...basically saying...'so sue me' I really thought...no....I would rather have you knee capped.....I would feel better for that! its a side of myself I didnt know about till I moved here and found it impossible to get action when action was required...guess this is the downside of a laid back attitude!
Ah well... now that we know that they have God on their side it's a whole different ball game... The 'we are above it all' comes in as a playing piece; makes it OK for them to walk all over you.
So, a letter to the head office of the organisation behind the 'course centre'. AND....Let us all on SFN have their address and we will bombard them with e-mails of support for you - Surely they couldn't ignore people power like that.
wow....that could be scarey....depends I guess...what religion and how brain washing it might be. May be a stupid suggestion...but have you perhaps arranged an appointment with the guy running the show next door...asked him for a meeting in your house..when the boys are at their most raucous...lunchtime? pooltime? and explained that you and your wife work from home...that you have clients visiting and cannot at times hear yourselves thinking. See if by gentle discussion you can come to an agreement...if not, maybe suggest that if he cannot or will not do something, you are sorry..but you will have no option but to speak to a solicitor about possible action...and maybe say, you assume they have complied with all the paperwork required in France to run a summer school etc as you would hate for them to be closed following a police visit.... maybe you have already done this...?
Thanks Mark .
I think mine is resovled. No noise since.I think them also riding Qwads over newly planted mais didnt help.If there is a next time I shall go round with a few ex Brive rugby mates of mine,who I took to Murryfield. They like a good Party too.
Best of luck with yours.
Good idea Brian....bit like the joke about the guy phoning the police and saying theres a burglar breaking into my shed to be told the police are busy they will send someone if they can....then phoning back and saying dont worry about sending anyone...I shot the burglar and 4 police cars turn up in 2 secs flat!
Maybe you need to cause the problem for them to phone in a nuisance call....and you can then make your official complaint...maybe then they will listen....(or maybe you get fined for being a nuisance!) hard call to make in France...
If you have a legal ruling on this Chris, cant you then take the Marie to court...or is this another way of spending a fortune for no gain? its just that it seems the Marie is in contravention of a court ruling so is also breaking the law.......only in France!
Re the: "How funny to bump into you here!"
Have we met before? I have a memory like a seive
Hi Mark,
It is hard to give advice in those situations, but, I would not attack the problem with the people renting the house, but with the people who are renting it, since you had a good relationship with them, and they seemed polite people while they live there. ...in France, lawyer and such are a waist of your money, time and energy. I would go to the source of the problem;
All my best
The question is, who will enforce the law? If the maire is not moving and local gendarmes just do an 'Anglais, tut, tut' then get so large speakers in your garden toute suite, look for the uncoolest, orchetral classical music you can and put it on full blast.
Mark,
If you have some French - here is the link to the relevent law itself
There may also be an English translation of this law on this site.
If you have any problems, let me know and I'll give you a run through of the sailient points.
Kind regards
There is little worse, in something that should be residential harmony, than someone who flaunts the hidden rules of etiquette and good neighbourly behaviour. You begin to anticipate the increase in noise level as it forms a pattern and the tendency to want to blow your stack becomes intolerable. If the gun laws were different it could be a whole different situation - OK... calm, calm, calm.
As has already been mentioned... surely a residential property must be registered to operate as a business especially if it's being used as a course centre for visiting students... Ask this additional question on your next trip to the Marie. And, If at the Mairie they are not helpful in their persuance of Environmental Health/Anti Social Behaviour (admittedly it's something more expected in a more crowded/urban environment)... and have washed their hands of it - Withhold your local taxes to make your point. If that doesn't rattle their bars.... go to the local press and let them loose on it. This at least should shame your new neighbours into keeping quiet.