Appeal court orders restoration at Château de La Barben
According to La Tribune de l’Art, SAS Rocher Mistral and Vianney d’Alançon must remove unauthorised alterations and restore the site within a year.
The Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal has ruled against SAS Rocher Mistral and its promoter, Vianney d’Alançon, following their appeal from a first-instance judgment, according to La Tribune de l’Art. The ruling requires the removal of unauthorised alterations at Château de La Barben and the restoration of the site to its original state within one year.
La Tribune de l’Art reports fines of €50,000 for the company and €5,000 for d’Alançon. Those sums are lower than the €70,000 and €20,000 imposed at first instance, respectively, but the appeal court did not suspend the new fines, the publication says.
The court also raised the daily penalty for failure to meet the restoration order from €20 to €150. La Tribune de l’Art describes the unauthorised alterations as numerous, without itemising them.
The defendants were also convicted on appeal of unauthorised harm to the conservation of the protected habitat of bats identified by the source as ‘murins à oreilles échancrées’. La Tribune de l’Art says they had been acquitted on that count at first instance.
According to the publication, the court president said the appeal court was concerned to restore the authority of state services, which he considered had been substantially disregarded by the defendants. This is the president’s reported explanation, not an independent account of the court’s reasoning.
A separate complaint by the association Ethicpol remains under review by the prosecutor, La Tribune de l’Art reports. The association alleges environmental breaches and raises questions about public aid received by Rocher Mistral, including whether European Commission authorisation was required and whether a departmental subsidy for restoring listed stables was used instead for a restaurant. La Tribune de l’Art does not present those allegations as adjudicated findings.
