French farmer fined €105,000 over ‘ugly’ tractors
Neighbour complained of an ‘open-air dump’ near his upmarket gîte. Farmer says neighbour used misleading images in court
Parts of the farm were labelled a sight for sore eyes. Photo for illustrative purpopses only
Andrei Armiagov / Shutterstock
A farmer in the south-east of France is fighting against a €105,000 fine levied after his neighbour, who owns an upmarket gîte two kilometres away, claimed his old tractors were ‘visual pollution’.
The gîte-owner said the “agricultural machinery” could potentially impact his ability to attract clients and negatively affect their stays.
The farm and gîte are located near Vaison-la-Romaine, a town in a picturesque valley in the Vaucluse department, known for its vineyards.
Court ordered removal of machinery
The owner of the gîte sent a formal notice to the farmer, asking him to “proceed with the removal of vehicles and stored waste," calling the exterior of the farm "an open-air dump.”
Farmer Vincent Blanc ignored the request, leading to the matter being taken to court.
In 2020, the local court in Orange ruled in favour of Mr Blanc’s neighbour, ordering the machinery and waste materials to be disposed of within 15 days.
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A €200 penalty would be levied for every subsequent day the farmer was late in removing the waste.
The farmer ignored the order for over two years, later telling local media Le Dauphiné: “I’m not a litigious person.”
He was subsequently summoned to Carpentras court and ordered to pay the combined sum of the penalties, totalling €105,400.
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Farmer says he cannot pay
Mr Blanc says that he cannot pay this sum, and is a recipient of the top-up benefit RSA (revenu de solidarité active) for those on low income.
He has turned to a farmers’ solidarity group, Solidarité Paysans, which provides assistance to indebted and struggling farmers, for help.
Plans for a counterclaim
However Mr Blanc now plans to take the owner of the gîte to court over the original dispute.
He says the owner should be penalised for “defrauding the court”, claiming the photos provided by the gîte owner were overly and unfairly zoomed in on his property.
This in turn gave a distorted view of the landscape, despite the two-kilometre gap between the farmer’s land and the gîte, argues Mr Blanc.
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