I come bearing good news… as you may have guessed from the title of this post, we have just received planning permission for our renovation.
Last month our geometra disappeared. We’d finalised the plans and left them to him to submit, but he didn’t, he just vanished. He stopped answering his phone, never returned calls and was constantly out of the office. After a couple of weeks of this, we took matters into our own hands and headed into the Municipio (town hall) to talk with the ufficio tecnico (town planner/architect) and see if he knew anything. We felt a bit bad going in behind our geometra’s back, but this wasn’t our fault, we had to do something.
The first time we submitted our plans, a couple of months ago, they were refused by the planning committee and our geometra said that they wanted us to make everything look very traditional. We weren’t happy with this as neither of us like ‘fake old’. We’re more than happy to keep the old parts in a traditional style, but we think the agricultural parts that we’re renovating now should look they’ve been renovated now. We know it’s not something that’s to everyone’s taste, but we think it’s a more honest approach, and more true to the building’s origins as well. It seemed we didn’t have much choice though; if we wanted to pass (and we really wanted to pass), traditional it was.
However, talking to the ufficio tecnico, we discovered that this wasn’t the case at all. We needed a more united plan, but the whole ‘traditional’ thing had been a misunderstanding. He was confident that some of the modern touches would be fine. So, poor Alpine Eco, our long-suffering architects, got yet another call and had to quickly draw up yet another set of plans. Which they did, because they’re great!
It’s this more modern approach that has been approved, so it turns out that, weirdly, an AWOL geometra can actually be a good thing. Or maybe it’s just a case of if you want something done properly, do it yourself. Either way, we got we wanted and it’s onwards and upwards now!
Living in the Langhe 
Very pleased for you. Our experience of geometras is that they are a load of toss…..s. Of course, he may have just gone off to Il Mare like so may others. The plans look great and somewhere for us to stay when we finally visit Piemonte!
Thanks June! Yep, that’s what we suspect, though he also has a new car now, so he may just have been going on test drives for a few weeks…
Congratulations! You’re on your way……..
Thanks!!
Wooooo! Give it a few years and those cars will be on the driveway (although at first they may just belong to your guests…)
Well we already have the Ferrari, obviously…
Felicitazioni! not an easy thing to accomplish.
Thank you Vera!
great news! time for a first bottle to be opened. Looking forward to reading the next chapter…
Thanks! I think we’re past the first bottle stage already though 😉
Nice that your mock-up allows both a Ferrari and a Fiat bambina. Very considerate : ))
…and don’t forget the Range Rover, perfect for all those tiny village streets. I think architects like these things to be aspirational. I’m not sure where I’m going to park the Citroen though with all these new cars we’ll be getting!
Congratulations Allegra & Rich! Surely to complete the picture, the Camper Van needs to replace the Chelsea Tractor?
Thanks ISG… yeah, that would be nice. I think Allegra would rather have the Chelsea Tractor still though.
congratulations and good luck… it must have been hard staying patient in the face of confusing, contradictory bureaocracy, but now you can (re)build your dream home!
Thanks!! Yep, we’re really excited to be able get on with it now. I’m sure there’s still plenty of frustration to come, but this was a pretty big hurdle…
Congratulations, but don’t forget if you want any advice or help. We have been there, done it and got the T-Shirt.
Thanks Deana! I love the look of your place, I hope we can achieve something like that… if you had to give us one piece of advice right now, what would it be?