The Chateau de Granes at Realville, between Caussade and Montauban, was built in 1886 on the ruins of a medieval castle and boasts a 300ha park and lake of 4.5ha. A "brittanique" proposes to use this as the basis for a tourist centre and golf course, entailing an investment of 200 million euros. The maire of Realville is cautiously optimistic: more tourists; more investment; more taxe fonciere; more jobs. The local Caussade/Montpezat young farmers' association isn't so sure. Land which could have been used for food production, often promised to their members, is being withdrawn in the face of "inflated land prices" offered by the investors. The prefecture merely says that there are procedures laid down for such applications and the pre-emption* rules could protect young farmers from losing their chance.
Could be a few years before we "britanniques" are teeing off in Realville.
*pre-emption allows the local agricultural board or farmers to buy agricultural land at the offer price and such land must be advertised before any sale is agreed. We had this at Mas del Sol when we wanted to buy the adjacent field.
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