The couple will have to destroy their network of miniature trains. Thirty years after it was built in the early 1990s, the rails, tunnels and bridges installed in the garden of retirees living in the Zurich region of Switzerland were declared illegal by cantonal justice last December. The blame for the “agricultural” condition of the land, which prevents such construction, says the local newspaper LandbotenQuoted by 20 minutes.
However, they had purchased this “mountainous” land specifically to develop their railway network, designed on a 1/45 scale. Her husband, a professional in the railway industry, had modeled the terrain a bit to be able to install two tracks of 80 meters and 55 meters intertwined between bushes and rocks. From then on, he maintained the small network, to which the children of the neighborhood regularly attended.
“My hobby was destroyed,” he said, as the couple announced that they had no energy to appeal the decision.
The two retirees did not know that the rest of their land was not buildable when they moved into their house. But the municipal council (equivalent to the French municipal council) became aware of the illegality of the miniature network two years ago.
Immediately afterwards, he ordered its dismantling, a decision that the couple challenged based on their good faith. A first sentence then considered that the order to destroy the installation was disproportionate: the little train seemed saved.
It was without counting on the appeal of a neighbor before the administrative court of the canton of Zurich. The court considered that the couple should have consulted the plan of the area before undertaking the work and even buying the land. The wife considers this trial to be “evil with no name.”
In addition to the obligation to dismantle, retirees will have to pay 4,500 Swiss francs to their neighbor for the expenses incurred, as well as 8,000 Swiss francs for court costs.
Source: BFM TV
