Land maintenance cost - any advice please?

[Rosyposy_2001]

Hi
We have just been offered about an acre of agricultural land adjoining our holiday cottage near Guémené-sur-Scorff to buy. This offer came out of the blue, and we don't have much money to spare but would like ot buy it to protect it and the rest of the tiny hamlet from the possibility of it being developed in the future. Obviously it would also add to the value of our cottage if we ever had to sell in the future. (Sincerely hope not but in today's climate, who knows!)

Our chief concern about buying it is keeping it in an acceptable condition when we are not there as it is on a main road and we don't want to upset either the Mairie or the neighbours by leaving it in a mess. We visit often but, apart from 2-3 longer holidays per year, many are day-trips when there just isn't time for major grass-cutting and we only have an average lawn-mower which is not man-enough for anything bigger than the pocket handkerchief of a lawn we currently have.

We need to make a swift decision about buying it which depends greatly on how much it would cost to maintain it from a distance, so we were wondering if anyone could give us even a very rough idea how much it might cost us to have it roughly cut, (to tidy field standard, no golf-course quality needed!) perhaps twice a year. I have tried some classifieds and emailed a couple of people but no replies yet.

It is level ground and the vegetation is short and in good order at the moment, so does not require "jungle-clearance"! There is easy access from the road across the ubiquitous French ditch! The farmer selling is willing to maintain it and keep the cuttings for his animals, but this involves setting up a prêt à usage agreement for our own protection which has many pit-falls - 1 being that we could not use any part of the land ourselves, even for access, according to the notaire! We would therefore be happier if we could buy it outright and maintain it ourselves.

Any advice/info please gratefully received! Low cost is of the utmost importance!

Thanks in anticipation for your help

[Cendrillon]

Just sent you a couple of e-mails.

Edit

Just noticed both failed to reach you[:@] so have tried again, different method.

[Rosyposy_2001]

Yes, thank you, I have received them both now and have just emailed you back.

[Benjamin]

This topic crops up from time to time for grass cutting (in gardens). The answers vary so much that you wont find out until you ask someone who actually does it.

[La Guerriere]

A lot will depend on the nature of the ground. If it's just an ex-field you may well find it's too bumpy for a normal garden maintenance type ride-on to cope with, and may need a few seasons of bashing down with more agricultural equipment.