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Tree chopped down when we are not there


Cacknanty
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Help required please, next door to our property is a barn rented by a family from the next village. This week, they have chopped down our large walnut tree and the hedging that

Is on the edge of our property.

The walnut tree was on our side. We do not know why they have chopped it down.

We are due to go to France next Thursday and would like to know what procedure we should follow once we have discussed it with the individuals / vandals concerned.

Gendarmes or some lawyer type.

Thanks in anticipation

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Well, they are working on the fact that your backs were turned to cut your trees down. Not, I am sorry to say un-heard of.

They may try to argue that the tree was too close to the property division line, though if it was a mature tree, then I don't think they can get away with that.

Or they might say that the tree was dangerous or damaging their barn. In which case, make them prove it.

Whichever, if the tree is really yours, they had no right to touch it, though be prepared for every lie in the book to justify their actions, and some nastiness.

Have they left you the wood at least because not doing so would or could constitute theft.

Go to the mairie by all means as they might know the back story but after what you learn there, I think that a plainte to the gendarmes would be a good way forward, to shame these people who take the law into their own hands.

Oh, and do not forget to send them a bill for the cost of purchasing and planting a new, mature tree.
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Thanks for the replies.

The tree was very productive, producing many boxes of nuts for distribution to anyone that wanted some.

Our contact in the village council thought initially that EDF had requested its removal, but on checking with the mayor, this is not the case with this tree.

The mayor will accompany us on a visit to the perpetrators of this destruction when we get there next week. He has asked that I read the cadestral and notarial papers that we have from when we bought the place 11 years ago.

I guess this will be a good test of our elementary school French!
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wooly's advice is excellent. This isn't the first time I've heard of trees being cut while the owners are away ... a case of fait accompli and the culprits just shrug their shoulders and wait for the consequences. Good luck with this, getting the mayor on your side is a major factor in getting justice and compensation.
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[quote user="woolybanana"] Have they left you the wood at least because not doing so would or could constitute theft. [/quote]

Wooly is quite right about their action being theft if the wood was taken away. A visit to the gendarmerie would be necessary to porter plainte.

Sue

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Here is a photo from last year

[URL=http://s192.photobucket.com/user/cacknanty/media/DSCN2368sml.jpg.html][IMG]http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z196/cacknanty/DSCN2368sml.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

And now

[URL=http://s192.photobucket.com/user/cacknanty/media/imagesml.jpg.html][IMG]http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z196/cacknanty/imagesml.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

The wood appears to have been taken away or rather stolen.
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That sounds like an awful situation Cacknanty and going to the gendarmerie would also be my first thought.

Depending on the size and trunk of the tree it could well be valuable, but your photos don't show more than the link and I can't get it to show. Thérière has more faith in me than I deserve as to valueing it. They would probably only see it as cheap firewood bless their black hearts!

Good luck.

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These links should work:

Before

[URL=http://s192.photobucket.com/user/cacknanty/media/DSCN2368sml.jpg.html][IMG]http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z196/cacknanty/DSCN2368sml.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

After

[URL=http://s192.photobucket.com/user/cacknanty/media/imagesml.jpg.html][IMG]http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z196/cacknanty/imagesml.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

I'd be absolutely soddin' furious and would have no hesitation in contacting the gendarmes.

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Many thanks for sorting the links out Catalpa, it looked fine in the preview.

Looks like a trip to the Gendarmes next Friday, it's just over the road from the supermarket so two birds with one stone.

The tree was a split trunk tree. Any ideas how old a tree of that size might be? Would it pre-date the barn I wonder.
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Well, to estimate the age, unfortunately you'll be able to count the rings as the tree has been chopped down. Otherwise there are rule of thumb estimates depending on the girth of the tree 1m from the base and assessing the land in which it is planted - open parkland, poor ground, etc.

This link might help - I think it is the document we used when we wanted to guess the age of one of our trees although we factored the height into the calculations - something that, sadly, you can no longer do.

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There should be the ring count and the height calculated from the photo taken before the chop. That should give some indication of the worth and the replacemant cost surely?

As far as the worth of the wood? It doesn't look as if there is a long trunk which would provide some lovely planks for an ebiniste, but?

I am just a knutter who loves the kind of wood that you could get from such a tree, but that does not give it any kind of comercial value and I weep for your loss. My thoughts of retribution here would not help, but would include donating him a pair of crutches!

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...
Here goes ...........

I didn't want to immediately go to the Gendarmes as we only get to the house for about 9 weeks a year so is somewhat vulnerable to any 'revenge' action.

After arrival we established that the yellow barn was still owned by our neighbours, ex farmer G and rented out to farmer V. The land and barn behind our property is owned by farmer T who bought it in 1984 from a previous occupant of our place. Our property deeds state that farmer T has a right of access across our land to his land, indicated by the yellow line on the plan. Indicated in a section called 'Servitudes'

We did know about the right of access from when we bought the place, being assured that T would never use it due to him making an easier alternative access from the road around the corner way back in the 80's.

The Mayor advised we get the plan showing the yellow line from the Notaire. The next day we did just that. We always assumed that the right of way would be along the existing driveway, not so. The right of way is a 5 metre strip to the West of our property. The walnut tree was within that 5m.

The next day a chap walked up the drive and started talking away in rapid French, my schoolboy French couldn't keep up, but eventually realised he was inviting me to his daughters wedding. The party after would be in the barn behind us (penny dropping!). Ascertained that he was farmer T from the next village. He was quite a large fellow, built like a brick No 2 house and in my head I could hear my father saying 'the bigger they are son, the harder they fall'. Well that never worked in the 60's and I couldn't see it working now, so continued to talk.

He actually wanted to use our electricity to power his daughters wedding ! Regrettably we would be leaving for the UK the day before the wedding so we couldn't go to the wedding and wouldn't be able to supply electric. Anyway Mr T, about this tree......

We then discussed the tree and the land, Mr T believed the 5m strip of land was bought by his father, not so I declared and showed him our deeds and plan. He insisted that the land was his and he had documents to prove it.

We arranged to reconvene at his place in a few days where he would have his docs ready.

We then talked about the cost of weddings, sons, daughters, cars etc and had a coffee.

I visited his place with someone who could speak both languages. After a fairly short discussion, Mr T accepted that the land was ours, his father hadn't bought the land and he shouldn't have cut down the tree. For this he was extremely sorry and would return the wood to us.

During this time his two sons joined the conversation and each one apologised to me. They also said that I should visit the Notaire to have the Right of Way annulled and they will sign it as required.

The wood was returned, cut into metre lengths and split, a walnut tree in a kit.

So there we are, a bit of chat perhaps avoided any real unpleasantness. We have lost a magnificent tree, but gained about 4m of firewood, the removal of the Servitude from the deeds.

I will place another post in the Legal section relating to Notaire charges, the Notaire wants €700 to complete this contract. seems a bit steep to me.

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So did he cut the tree down to make an access to the field for the daughters wedding or was it just coincidence, he thought the land was his so cut the tree down for firewood?

If its the latter then its a very sad way of going about life, (in fact the former also) if it were interfering with his jouissance of the land that he was renting then thats another thing.

Bye the way my dad used to say to me the exact same phrase, I still have yet to gather the courage to put it to the test but like you it rings in my ears when I am on the recieving end of aggressive behaviour, what is really sad is that most times its a Gendarme on the desk at the Gendarmerie when I have gone there as a good Citizen concerned with something that represents a danger to the public but which would involve one of them getting off their large ar5e an doing something. Very tempted a few times but not the best of places to see if its true [:D]

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Thanks for the update - appreciated.  Sounds like a regretable, but understandable, cock-up, typical of rural living. (And not just French rural living  - have known similar cases in Worcestershire [:-))]).  And congratulations of arriving at the explanation.

But here's a thought: see if you can inspire Farmer T. to plant a dozen young walnuts somewhere.  You could sell him the idea as being a way to commemorate his daughter's wedding, perhaps?

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Yes, Mr T was going to put in the access just for his daughters wedding. The church opposite our place is used by both villages.

The 'after party' is now going to be held in a barn back at his place. for the life of me, I can't think why he didn't do that in the first place.

The chap I took as an interpreter is an artist, I did suggest Mr T commission him to paint a walnut tree on the yellow barn, they thought I was joking !

The other gain we have got is next year we will have even more grass to cut, ho hum.
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