Does your French Village Conform?

Village Boulangeries in France

One of the great things about being on the council is getting snippets of information before they are made public. At a meeting this morning our Maire read out an official letter that had been received concerning new laws coming into place about village amenities. It will soon be a requirement for all communes with over 100 residents to have a village boulangerie and hairdressers. Thankfully our village conforms, even if our hairdressers is tiny and only open a few days a week, but does yours?

Obviously a scheme like this is going to take time to implement and is going to cost money. Buildings will need to be found and adapted for use and staff will have to be employed. It seems an increase in local taxes will be the first step taken to get this off the ground. The benefits will an increased level of services in the remote rural areas, where many older people don't drive, as well as helping to reduce the number of unemployed people, something else that is a big problem in rural France.