Plane skids off runway at Limoges Bellegarde

Traffic at Limoges airport was seriously disrupted following an incident on the runway on Friday 21st March. A Boeing 737 on route to Brussels Charleroi and operated by the low cost airline Ryanair came off the tarmac, causing injury to six passengers. Flights had to be cancelled with many rerouted to Nantes and Bergerac airports. Thankfully the injuries were only minor, but staff from the craft were offered counselling to cope with any trauma they had suffered during the incident. Efforts to remove the plane have been hampered by the weather, rain and sleet had made the ground around the runway too soft to cope with the heavy lifting gear needed to move the aircraft. Local companies, aided by a team of Dutch specialists, worked all day to remove the craft and get the airport reopened. The Boeing737 was finally released Saturday 22nd March, around 6.30pm. Air traffic at the airport is now back to normal. Investigations into the cause of the accident have been opened but it is believed that the weather may have played a significant role.

Drug Traffickers Held

Four men were arrested in Tulle recently following a lengthy police operation. The men, two from Tulle and two from Limoges (originally from the Ivory coast) were held on suspicion of drug trafficking. Two guns and 1kilo of cannabis were seized in the raid. Gun Man Detained A 36 year old man from Neuvic Entier has been detained under the mental health act. The man began firing shots at random from a 22’ rifle at his home in the village centre. Several neighbours tried to intervene but the man became threatening in his manner before being restrained by a special armed police unit

Hayfever Warning

Scientists are predicting a terrible season for the region’s hay fever sufferers. Although not a huge problem in late March, wth the region being hit by strong winds, sleet and rain, the earlier mild weather is said to have a encouraged a bumper year for plant pollination. Around 20% of the population of France suffer from the condition, a number which is set to rise over the coming years. Experts believe an increase in indoor and outdoor pollution is the cause for the increase.

EDF Not to Blame

Investigations into the tragic deaths of two young boys from Correze have concluded that the site owners were not at fault. Kevin and Vincent from the Treignac area of the department lost their lives on a lake owned and managed by the electricity company EDF. The battered canoe in which the boys were playing is believed to be the reason behind the tragedy.

Lorry Crash

Recently, a truck careered into a ditch in the Haute Vienne town of St Yrieix La Perche. The truck was travelling on the D 901, from Le Chalard, when it approached the last curve before arriving in the town. Snow was falling as the driver lost control of his lorry, hitting a row of fir trees before ending on his side in a ditch. Luckily the driver received only cuts and bruises in the incident..

La Souterraine Students Protest

Around 300 protestors took to the streets of La Souterraine last week. The marchers included pupils, parents and teachers who are trying to prevent cuts at the engineering department at their college. The college head claims that an ongoing reduction in staff budget but a rise in pupil numbers has left him with no choice but to make the cuts. Protestors believe that the figures quoted are inaccurate and that quotas applied to inner city colleges cannot be replicated in the rural colleges where a different set of circumstances apply.

Road Safety In Brive

A scheme to improve road safety awareness has been underway in Brive. Two months of work have gone into the preparations for the project. Students from schools in the town took part in several exercises designed to raise awareness of the dangers of speeding, including observing mobile speed cameras in action .

Organic Gardening

The association "Resource et Harmonie" held a meeting in Limoges on Thursday 27th March. The theme was organic gardening and included amateurs and professionals putting forward their suggestions on managing your garden in a more sustainable manner.

A CATastrophe

Several residents in the commune of Aurillac recently reported that a noxious gaslike smell was emitting from a locked property. The emergency services were called and the area sealed off with 14 residents being evacuated in the process. The authorities failed to get any answer at the house as fears grew that someone may be trapped inside. The owner of the rented property was finally located and brought a key to the scene. On entering the premises police found a cat litter tray that had not been emptied for a considerable period of time.

Cheese

Liz and Simon Willett, who were showing off their produce at the wine and cheese foire at Pranzac last week, already go to the markets at Aigre, Civray in the Vienne and Piégut in the Dordogne. Soon they hope to add Ruffec to the list. The couple, who now live at Roumazières, started selling cheese at markets and foires. ‘The French are very proud of their cheeses and rightly so,’ says Simon. ‘But we have good cheese too!’ But how can Britain compete with a country such as France that claims to have a different cheese for every day of the year? ‘In England we have two cheeses for every day,’ says Simon. The couple focus on cheddar but also sell Stilton, Wensleydale, Shropshire blue and red Leicester. The French, however, are wary of the orange coloured cheese. Simon and Liz Willett have written an explanatory note to go with these ‘orange’ cheeses, explaining that the colouring comes from annatto (sometimes called rocou) that comes from the seed of a tree, and which is both natural and edible. The French have for too long ignored the merits of New World wines, and should be wary of making the same mistake with British cheese.

Recycling.

About 60% of bottles in circulation are made from recycled glass, many of them thanks to a recycling plant in Cognac run by packaging firm Saint-Gobain Emballage which uses 180,000 tonnes of recycled glass a year to make up 53% of its bottles – the other main component is silica. ‘That’s enough to make 650 million bottles a year,’ says the company’s Richard Mailler. ‘We’re technically capable of recycling 100%, ‘ he says. ‘It’s a question of bringing us the material in the first place.’ Michel Gardes, president of the department’s glass organisation, says that the Charente, as elsewhere, could sort and collect more glass waste. ‘The Nordic countries manage about 75% - here in France we’re at 60%,’ he says. ‘In 2007 we improved by 3% - we can still improve this rate of progress.’ The factory at Cognac has invested four million euros to enable it to sort coloured from clear glass. The recycled glass has to be carefully sorted and checked for items that affect the process and all non-glass items such as labels are removed. For many it’s this original sorting and selection process that is crucial. In March, the national organisation Eco-Emballages organised a day of awareness to help get the message across. ‘One of our main activities is to make people aware of the importance of sorting waste at the start of the process,’ says Pascal Henaux, its regional manager