Henri de Taillebourg would like to build a pontoon for fishing in the Saint Savinien sector. Can he do this without formalities or must he obtain specific authorizations? First, what is a pontoon?
It is generally a small structure built on the edge of the water and intended to improve the comfort of the fisherman. You imagine a wooden or sometimes concrete platform of several m2 which juts out over the water. The role of these pontoons can also be the parking of a boat.
We guess that in Saint Savinien the watercourse is the Charente river?
Henri does not specify it but indeed his intention is probably located on the Charente river where there are already many constructions of this kind. We are on a public domain watercourse managed by the Departmental Council of Charente-Maritime.
If I interpret it correctly and if I have a good memory you told us some time ago, public domain therefore pedestrian access for everyone.
Cheers for the memory! I actually talked about pedestrian easement which allowed everyone at least one passage on foot. But there it is no longer a question of walking. We are indeed in the presence of a “construction” which requires a very specific authorization. To use the acronym borrowed from administrative language, an AOT: authorization to occupy the territory.
Guess that right pays off
It is paying and that is where it poses some difficulties. The users of these small spaces become “owners” of them and it is not uncommon for them to fence them off. And there we immediately go from a domain that was public to a private domain where pedestrian access is no longer even possible and above all a space where you can no longer access to practice fishing. I let you imagine the tensions that this represents on the edge of the water between pontoon owners and fishermen. Without forgetting the walkers who sometimes settle on these facilities for the picnic.
Only the Charente river is affected by these pontoons?
No, to my knowledge there is also the Boutonne downstream of Saint Jean-d’Angély and the Sèvre Niortaise. A small distinction to be made for the Sèvre Niortaise, it is not the Departmental Council which is in charge of it but an institution, the IIBSN: the interdepartmental institute of the Sèvre Niortaise basin.
The prices to build these pontoons?
I don’t have them in mind but it’s quite high. I know that they are different from one river to another but in any case it represents several hundred euros a year.
If I want to build this kind of thing outside of the public domain, who do I contact?
As opposed to the public domain, you have the private domain, the Seugne, the Seudre, the Arnoult, the Boutonne upstream, the Curé, the Banche, etc. On these rivers you are with individuals, no pedestrian easement, you are with others. In this case, unless there are specific instructions from the municipality, the owner’s authorization must be sufficient.