Mairie offers grants for electric leaf blowers to reduce noisy gardening in south of France
Residents can receive up to 30% of total cost of tools including lawn mowers and hedge strimmers
Residents can receive up to €75 towards the cost of some tools
Budimir Jevtic/Shutterstock
Residents are being offered a grant towards purchasing quieter lawn mowers and other electrical garden tools in a commune in the south of France.
Mougins, near Cannes (Alpes-Maritimes), is offering up to 30% towards tools such as hedge trimmers, lawn mowers, and leaf blowers provided they meet certain ‘low noise’ rules.
Officials in the commune, which has around 20,000 residents, passed the resolution to come into effect at the beginning of this year, but had previously passed by-laws to limit noise pollution in 2022.
It also already offers a subsidy to residents purchasing electric wood chippers / mulchers (broyeur électrique).
The scheme will be trialled for one year and then extended if it is believed to have reduced gardening noise levels.
How does the subsidy work?
The subsidy is available to purchases fulfilling the following conditions:
The item is purchased in-person at a store and not online
The item complies to current European standards
The item does not cost above a certain amount (e.g. €150 for a hedge trimmer, €200 for a leaf-blower, €250 for a lawnmower).
Residents then complete a form and send it to the mairie, including an invoice for the product - and receive the subsidy directly into their bank account.
In addition to reducing noise levels, a switch to electric appliances over traditional combustion ones will correspond to a reduction in pollution, and less energy used to complete tasks.
Noise levels in place nationwide
There are national limits on loud noises from tools in France, including noise caused by garden equipment.
For example, you can only mow your lawn or engage in other noisy garden work between 10:00 and 12:00 on Sundays and bank holidays.
In some departments however, all noisy gardening work is banned on these days, in a bid to reduce noise.
Read more: When and at what times can you mow your lawn in France?
Read more: Gardening, DIY: what you can and cannot do on a bank holiday in France
