justice says no to couple who didn't want telephone poles

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The Nantes administrative court of appeal rejected the request of a couple from Bignan (Morbihan), near Locminé, who demanded the annulment of the municipal decree which determines the limit between their property and municipal roads no. 14 , in the place called Kergan.

On June 1, 2021, the mayor (various right) of Bignan Chantal Bihoès had in fact taken a “ individual alignment order » which had aroused the discontent of Dominique and Sylviane. The couple then appealed to the Rennes administrative court to have this decision annulledbut was dismissed at first instance. So he appealed.

Dominique and Sylviane demanded that an “injunction” be made to the commune of Bignan “to set the limit of the public road domain (…) in the middle of the ditch” which runs along their property, and so “ put an end to the irregular influence of six telephone poles which were installed “on the embankment” which borders the road ditch. However, according to them, this embankment “runs along the grassy shoulder” and is part of their property.

This dispute is also part of a broader framework: the mixed territorial cooperation union Megalis Bretagne had obtained authorization in December 2020 from the town hall of Bignan to install eleven “aerial support poles” along the municipal road n °14 “for the purpose of supplying the municipality with optical fiber”. Problem: the Local Urban Plan (PLU) expressly provides that “the EDF and telephone networks must be built underground”… The authorization was therefore canceled by the Rennes administrative court.

“Difficulties” in pruning their trees

The presence of these telephone poles near the applicants' property today poses “difficulties” in “pruning” their treesit was explained during the hearing before the Nantes administrative court of appeal on September 24, 2024.

But the “posts” are “established below the crestin the immediate vicinity of the ditch”, recalled the public rapporteur during this same hearing. And the telephone poles are not “in the middle of the hedge” but “in front of the trees” of the applicants, from his point of view.

“The embankment and the ditch (…) are necessary for support of the roadway or to its protectionin particular by participating in the proper flow of rainwater”, confirms the Nantes administrative court of appeal in a judgment of October 11, 2024 which has just been made public. “They therefore constitute a essential accessory in the public road domain. »

To the extent that the embankment is therefore “necessary for the protection of the road structure”, the town hall of Bignan has not “misunderstood the current limits of this public road”. The couple was therefore rejected and will even have to pay 1 500 € to the municipality for its legal costs in this matter.

(Pepper Press)

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