Vincent Verschuere, breeder in the Oise, was condemned last March by justice, to pay 120,000 euros in damages to his neighbors, who complain about the smell and the noise of his cows. Farmers fear that this decision will set a precedent in the rural world.
He does not intend to stop his legal fight, which has lasted for more than 10 years. Vincent Verschuere, 33, will appeal in cassation in June, ” the last resort, even if it’s hard, I continue. My farm is my whole life, it’s my family’s whole story “. The breeder has 260 cattle, in his farm established for four generations, in the heart of the village of Saint-Aubin-en-Bray, in Oise, in the north of France. Last March, he was sentenced by the Court of Appeal of Amiens to pay 120,000 euros in damages to a group of residents. The judges recognized an “abnormal disturbance of the neighborhood”.
In question, the construction of a new building in 2010, which serves in particular as a barn for cattle. This 2,800 m² hangar has obtained a prefectural exemption, because it is located less than 100 m from homes. Very quickly, once the building was built, the nine residents complained about the noise and the smell of the cows and took legal action. During the hearing last March, their lawyer mentioned ” a building 8 m high, at the bottom of their garden “, denouncing ” olfactory and sound nuisances such that it concerns public health. We are not talking about a cow bellowing in a meadow or a rooster crowing, we are talking about the industrialization of livestock farming “.
€220,000 in total
“ Some said they were nauseous “says the farmer who cannot pay the 120,000 euros in damages without going out of business. “ And to this is added the request from the judges to fit out my hangar to limit the nuisance “, he laments. Insulation work that would cost him 100,000 euros more.
Tomorrow, will we still have the right to drive a tractor at the times we want?
To support him, the FNSEA, the national federation of farmers’ unions, organized a mobilization in early May, in Saint-Aubin-en-Bray. They were about 150 people, many of Vincent Verschuere’s colleagues came from all over the region, and elected officials from neighboring municipalities. Farmers fear that this decision will set a precedent. “ It’s putting your finger in the gears, tomorrow, will we still have the right to drive a tractor at the times we want? worries Luc Dezutter, a farmer a few kilometers from Saint-Aubin-en-Bray. He succeeded in constructing buildings beyond 100 m from dwellings, “ but it is increasingly difficult to find distant lands “.
” It pisses me off “, gets angry the president of the young farmers of Oise, Gwenaëlle Desrumaux, “ it does not only concern Vincent, but everyone in the countryside. More and more young farmers are coming to see us because they can’t get their building permit, even without an exemption. ! I am also addressing you elected officials, stop this reluctance ! “. The president of the Hauts-de-France region was also present that day. Xavier Bertrand (LR) assured the breeder of his support, “ If tomorrow, Vincent has cash flow problems, the region will respond, concretely and financially. The same goes for the necessary investments “.
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Conflicts between neo-rurals and farmers
The president of the FNSEA targets neo-rurals. For Christiane Lambert, “ you can’t come and live in the countryside, complain about the noise and ask that all activity stop ! The countryside is tractors passing by, birds and roosters crowing “. She denounces a vagueness in the legal concept of abnormal disturbance of the neighborhood, “ how many decibels, what degree of smell, a while ago, we can’t frame everything and legislate everything “.
However, there is a law on the subject, voted on January 29, 2021: the law on the sensory heritage of the French countryside. The deputies had started from the observation that disputes in the countryside, relating to neighborhood disturbances (cock crow or cicadas, smell of manure, etc.) have multiplied in recent years. The law is supposed to encourage living together and promote the sounds and smells of the French countryside “. This law could protect farmers, “ but it is not yet applied », Regrets the president of the FNSEA. “ Each regional directorate for agriculture and forestry must define this sensory heritage, in each territory, but this has not yet been done. “.
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