A row has erupted between the mairie and several residents of a small village in Perigord Noir, near the border with Lot, over plans to build a 42-metre high mobile phone mast near a listed chateau.
The mayor of Sainte-Mondane, Gilles Arpaillange, approved a planning application from mobile phone operator Orange on the nod without consultation, say some residents, something he denies.
Particularly angry is the owner of the listed Château de Fénelon, Jean-Luc Delautre, who says the mast is 650 metres from the building and will destroy its historic interest.
The mayor says the mast is 700 metres from the building and will not be visible from the chateau, and to prove the point he flew a yellow helium balloon 42 metres high which he said could not be seen from the château's tower.
Read more: We prefer no phone masts in our unspoilt French valley – and no signal
Planning permission controversy
Mr Delautre, and other locals opposed to the mast accused the mayor of not informing the commune of the plans before signing off on the planning permission.
He says all necessary procedures were followed, but he did not do a door-to-door tour telling of the plans.
Opponents also complain that obligatory notices announcing the planning permission were only posted on a little-used road giving access to the proposed mast site for two months in the summer when everyone associated with the chateau was working at full stretch.
A public meeting was arranged by the mairie to air the matter, but again opponents argued that having it at 14:00 on a Tuesday meant that most people in the village would not be able to attend because they would be at work.
'New deal mobile' promise
Orange says they need to install the mobile phone mast because the village does not have a mobile phone signal and they risk facing a fine of millions of euros if they do not fulfil a promise to the government under an agreement called ‘New Deal Mobile’ signed with it.
Under the agreement, Sainte-Mondane must have mobile phone coverage by March 2025.
The telecoms provider says the commune could be covered from two sites, one in the neighbouring commune of Veyrignac, which would be next to “hundreds” of homes or the more isolated site in Sainte-Mondane, which it says meets all its requirements.
An Orange regional spokesman is quoted in French media as saying proximity to the listed chateau did not stop it putting up masts.
“The Dordogne is the department where there are the most chateaux, and the most extraordinary châteaux. If we did not put masts up near them we would not have any mobile phone coverage at all.”
Mr Arpaillange also brushed off concerns about the impact of the mast.
“We have passed from the time where we used smoke signals and carrier pigeons to communicate,” he told Le Figaro newspaper.
“We have a historic monument in the château and it is true that you cannot just build anything around it, but it is also true that we need a mobile network.”
Wind turbine row
Another row about spoiling the view of a château, this time with a wind turbine power plant, has brewed around the Château de Saint-Point in the commune of Pierreclos in Saône-et-Loire department.
The project is to put a line of wind turbines along a ridge in front of the chateau, associated with the 19th-century poet Alphonse de Lamartine.
Opponents who have launched a petition against the wind farm have the support of Stéphane Bern, the TV and Radio host who also organised the annual Lotto where funds raised go towards heritage projects.
They also say the windfarm will destroy a protected Natura 2000 site.
A similar row has been running over a wind farm proposed in the countryside around Illiers-Combray, to the south of Chartres, associated with the novelist Marcel Proust.
Read more: Village near Nice fights ‘Wild West’ spread of 5G internet masts
What to do if a mast is to go up near you
Decisions about whether or not to grant planning permissions or declarations of works for mobile phone masts (or for wind farms) are ultimately made by the mairie of the commune, and they do not have to ask the population or even the conseil municipal for advice.
It is an example of the importance of getting to know your mayor in small communes, something which many foreign newcomers (and Parisians) find strange.
Telephone operators sometimes approach the mayor before putting in a formal application to see if he or she thinks there will be problems. In any case, there is a three-step procedure which has to be followed.
A month before the formal application they must present the mairie with a file on their intentions, although this time can be shortened. It must be written in plain language and include basic details, including what radio frequencies will be used.
A second step is a full planning application, which usually has advice from departmental authorities, including the architect in charge of heritage, on the application.
Mobile phone companies handle many applications a year and they know the form.
The application has to be made available to members of the conseil municipal for 10 days, but they do not have to be formally notified or a meeting called, and if the mayor wants, can also be opened to “observations from the public”.
The third step after the planning permission has been signed off by the mairie is to obtain permission to “occupy the public domain” and if necessary, obtain a right of passage to the mast site for both building and future maintenance.
Read more: Mobile operators install masts disguised as trees in France
Official posters near the site
Again it is the mairie who gives the go-ahead, sometimes with advice from the department. Posters announcing the application have to be put up near the site for two months – but as in the case of Château de Fénelon, this can be on a little-used access road.
Most communes also have an official notice board – usually behind glass on the mairie building, where planning applications are noted – but for telephone masts this is not compulsory.
If a mairie is opposed to the mast, their opposition has to be argued – grounds could include worry about radiation exposure to schools, found within 100 metres of the mast, for example.
Environmental grounds, protection of heritage, public safety, can be used to oppose the application. Once a planning permission has been granted residents can oppose it within two months of the posters announcing the planning permission being put in place.
Formal opposition can be presented to the mairie or directly to the department’s tribunal administrative – but opponents have to present arguments as to how they will be affected personally.
Associations can also oppose masts, as long as they were created at least a year before the planning application, and their statutes have a clause saying they can take such action in the locality (protecting the local environment for example) if necessary.
In practice, most mairie, if asked to choose between having mobile phone coverage or not having mobile phone coverage, will always choose to have mobile phones.
But they could be persuaded to have the mast moved further away, (telephone operators usually comply if it is feasible to do so), especially if they know and are on good terms with their adminstrés asking them to do so.
No planning application is needed for small masts, below 12m high, which occupy 5 m2 or less of ground.
