by Stefano Montefiori
The courts are full of appeals from former citizens who have moved to the countryside and are suing farmers and ranchers over neighborhood problems. A new law aims to protect the right of farmers to carry out their activities despite the demands of the new followers of the fields
FROM THE CORRESPONDENT
PARIS – A cow farmer from Saint-Aubin-en-Bray was ordered in 2022 to pay 110,000 euros in damages to six residents who complained about noise and smells from his farm. According to the FNSEA, the largest farmers’ association, there are currently 480 cases of this type ongoing in France. Today the French National Assembly will discuss a bill presented by the Minister of Justice that aims to “protect those who work” and reduce the burden on the courts and to reduce the vocational opportunities for “neo-rurals”.
Among the many fractures in French society is that between the new supporters of the countryside and those who have lived there for generations, namely the farmers and breeders. Covid and the exit restrictions have reinforced a long-standing trend, namely the escape from the cities towards coastal towns or the countryside, for example by commuting with a second home or as a permanent resettlement.
The citizen, tired of the hard life in the chaos of Paris, longs for a healthier and more pleasant life with real zero-kilometer food and settles in small country villages, where, however, he often discovers that the cows are around the clock moo The day and the night. The night and the geese squawk. The courts are full of appeals from “neo-rurals” suing farmers and ranchers over neighborhood problems. The new law aims to protect the right of farms to carry out their activities within their borders, regardless of whether noise and smells invade surrounding properties.
If the bill passes, a farmer who has settled in the countryside for generations will no longer have to worry about the whims of his neighbors who have just arrived from town in search of scenic views. “The aim is not to defend an old image of our landscape,” lawyer Timothée Dufour, who helped draw up the proposal, told Le Figaro, but to encourage the development of our activities. Farmers are entrepreneurs who need to expand their operations, comply with regulations and renew infrastructure.”
In 2019, a retired couple from Limoges, who spend a few weeks a year in their second home in Saint-Pierre d’Oléron, filed a complaint because they consider themselves “victims of noise pollution” caused by Maurice, the neighbor’s rooster who wakes up at 6 Get up in the morning and disrupt your vacation. This case became a symbol of a struggle between real villagers and neo-ruralists, a conflict that inspired the sociologist Jean-Pierre Le Goff to write a very interesting book: “The End of the Village”. “A world has ended, but few have noticed,” writes Le Goff. When they move, the Parisians think of the landscape described by Jean Giono, the English dream of small squares with plane trees and old people playing boules. But anyone who buys a second home expects not only good air and organic food, but also the same comfort as in the city.” The government’s proposed law aims to protect agricultural activities and livestock as well as the French village, including smells and noises.
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December 4, 2023 (modified December 4, 2023 | 12:00)
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