Back home in France to finish the repairs to La Falaise at Pont de la Taule.

My planning application to turn our barn into a gite has been refused. I have made two other applications for almost exactly the same conversion of barns to gites, in the same commune, under the same the same Plan d'Occupation des Sols, in the same Zone Non-constructible - and both have been approved. It makes no sense.

The reason for refusal is to safeguard agriculture. The only pocket of agricultural land here is owned by me, has been created by me, fenced by me and is maintained by me. The sheep which grazed it were mine. A hectare or so of land is not large enough for an Exploitation Agricole, the barn is too small for modern bales and would not comply with the Normes Francaises for ventilation if it were to be used to legally house animals. The future of marginal land here is as part of Agro-tourism. With a gite, we could subsidise our small holding, supplement our income, sell our surplus home grown produce to our paying guests. Surely that is why the Le Parc Regional Des Pyrenees Ariegeoise exists?

I will have to resubmit the application, hopefully with a letter of support from the Maire and the Chambre d'Agriculture.