[having trouble with the Mairie]

That is another story re the Geometre !!! but yes we have all the deeds with referenced bornes on the ground and dimensions to existing buildings. It would be very difficult, but not impossible for them to shift the boundaries a little. In the scheme of things I wouldn't be too fussed if they moved the one boundary that could be fudged.

[having trouble with the Mairie]

I wondered about that myself, but then you would think they would make reference to that in their stroppy email e.g we wrote to you on blah blah blah and you have done nothing etc etc.

I cannot give loads of details out here but basically when I wrote back to them they said the maire would reply and then absolutely nothing despite me sending the odd chaser emails - it's been months now.

[having trouble with the Mairie]

I think you are right Idun. It's as if we are back in the 1600's with some sort of feudal system. I'm all for giving control back at a local level but you would hope that some sort of checking and transparency protocol was in place. From what I am concluding, there isn't. It's good to get feedback from people who have had similar experiences. I think there is probably a reluctance to say anything about the local mairie for fear of receiving a difficult time. I was advised by a local to give the maire some wine and tell him our kids were going to the local school. I didn't of course, i'm just not doing that sort of sucking up. I bought the land that no one wanted and I will do what I will with it subject to respect for others and abiding by the law.

[having trouble with the Mairie]

The hedge is near a pavement and someone does seem to cut it, I don't know who though. I would be quite willing to pay the council or whoever cuts it for doing so. It would save me the task of finding someone reliable to cut it. I don't want to cause inconvenience to others.

Given that no one AT ALL has ever been in touch in writing, by email or phone I do find it really odd that they would not ask me to trim it if it is a problem and my responsibility, or invoice me. As I wrote in an earlier post you would think that the council might give me a friendly warning first or ask if we are having problems etc. If we didn't reply then I could see why it might get peoples backs up, but that has not happened.

[having trouble with the Mairie]

I take on board BritinBretagne's comment and there is only limited detail I can put on the forum. With that in mind please believe me, it really isn't that untidy. There is no rubbish, old cars, in fact it is behind a large hedge which is the only real issue they could have. Its quite an intriguing property 'the real deal' as they say. Trying to keep to the original posting and keeping an openmind, I always go by my gut instinct and that tells me something is not right - that may come out in the fullness of time. In the event that my gut instinct is right I would like to be prepared with the legal situation as I may need to act quickly. Wooly banana, you do have a good point , one of the mairie employee surnames is the same as the person who has bought the development land. I don't know if they are connected ???? I would like to think in 2019 the behaviour you describe has gone, but it is both an insight and slightly depressing thought to hear that it still goes on. Thanks

[having trouble with the Mairie]

Thanks John FB, I know what you mean re a chat. Problem is my French is terrible and the OH's isn't good enough yet for a meaningful phone discussion.

When we purchased the property the seller made a couple of comments re the current mayor AFTER we had completed the sale. At the time I considered them throwaway comments but this does now make me wonder.

Might have to see how it pans out and get my French vocab book out !!

Many thanks to all those who replied

[having trouble with the Mairie]

Hi thanks for you reply. I don't want to really put exactly what they have said for identification sake in the future, never know who looks at the pages !!

Ive had some correspondence from a geometre and its all very cordial and pleasant. The one from the Mairie has underlining and bold in different areas and very direct. They ask 'have I ever been to ???( the village)'

I have ever been to the 'Mairie'. Its all very terse. I replied I had in both cases but I sort of considered if I choose to do either is surely up to me. The property came up for sale and the locals and the Mairie had the option to purchase it, neither did. I agree there are formal letters that can be to suit all situations but this one is not generic

They obtained my email address from a third party company and all of them seem to have no respect at all for the GDPR regs for data protection - who really knows who has all my details. When I asked who provided the Mairie with my email address all went quiet.

The whole situation with the different parties appears to be a little underhand and cloak and daggers. I am of the opinion that the land has some value because of its location in front of the other land that has been sold. The sudden interest in having it all tidy could be nothing more than a smoke screen to encourage us to sell. I guess I just would like to know how much power the local Mairie really has and also other peoples experiences in small rural villages.

[having trouble with the Mairie]

Hi thanks for the welcome. No there was no time restriction other than the standard which I understand is 3 years or something and you have to apply again. To be fair to them we haven't kept up with the weeds but it pretty much is in the same state as when we purchased and had been for decades. The adjacent land has also been in the same state. The email was really off hand and given that they hadn't communicated with us at all in the past they might have started with a friendly one eg we notice you haven't been to the village, the hedge is getting a little overgrown we know a gardener who will keep on top of it for you etc. For all they knew I could have been dead !! I certainly believe you would never receive such a snotty email in the UK from effectively a government organisation. Is this normal practice, maybe i'm being too sensitive ?

[having trouble with the Mairie]

Hi, a newbie here. We purchased a plot of land in the centre of a small village near Dinan quite a few years ago. The land was in a very overgrown state with a small old stone building that required renovation. We bought the property with the correct renovation permission, which if I recall, was the certificate of urbanism. We met the "Main Man" of the Mairie at the time and everything has been fine. Things as they are and for personal reasons we have not been able to renovate the property and it has been left pretty much as it was and had been for decades. Recently the land adjacent has been sold and cleared and we have received quite a hostile and snotty email from the Mairie basically telling us to clear the land and demolish an old shed - this has been the only communication we have ever received. The purchaser of the adjacent land has also started a boundary demarcation procedure which I am familiar with, I presume some sort of development is on the way on their land. Big do's and little do's some rather iffy communications appear to be going on in the background with others and despite my request from the Mairie for a response to some pretty basic details, the request has been met with complete silence. It's a small village <1500 souls, but I a don't really know if I want to do anything with the site now, they seem quite hostile to me. Question, can the Mairie force me to clear all the land and remove the existing shed from our land ? any advice appreciated