Stephenm

Hi - Does Quillan mean you live and work there - in fact are you Robert  with whome I had a short correspondence 18 months ago? I have a house in Rennes les Baines and wish to replace the garage door with French style shutters and a patio door. Do I need planning permission for this change? I am assuming there is no problem strcuturally, as it is a single story garage and the opening already has a lintel in place. Regards  Stephen Mellor

I work for a company supplying pumps for dispensing ethanol alcohol based hand disinfectants. I can confirm the most European countries, including recent EC entrants, together with many other markets worlwide, are reacting to the MRSA bug by stepping up hospital hygiene. The UKcurrently leads the way with a plan to have a hand cleanser next to each hospital bed, but France and Germany are close on their heels. Indeed France is our largerst market after the UK Of course this does not mean that the MRSA risk is any less in France, but it does indicate they are aware of the problem and taking steps to deal with Stephnm

Hi, Hope you do not mind us piggy backing on your entry. For 2 years We have owned a small house in Rennes les Baines, about 5 kms from you. We have more or less straightened the place out and are ready to start some redevelopment work. As we live on a floodplain in the village, the most recent restrictive conditions apply and we can only build upwards, not outwards. Worse - it will invlove lifting the ground floor about 1metre to above the last registered high water mark - which was in 1992 when the whole valley was flooded and the bridge in Rennes was swept away. We are looking for recommendations for an architect and/or maitre d'oeuvre and subsequently a builder. We have had the property looked over by an architect from Esperaza, and although he was extremely helpful he was very reluctant to become involved in building and structural calculations, and appeared a little short on suggestions for a new structure that could be supported on the old. Look forward to any suggestions readres may have - and to hearing from others in the area Thanks Stephen & Theresa Mellor