Territorial organization

The territorial French administration is organized at three levels: the commune, the département and the region which groups together regions with a measure of autonomy.

Established in 1789, the district (commune) is the smallest administrative subdivision and the oldest. Amongst its various roles are the electoral and registry functions, public protection, social action, primary teaching, town planning and local development.

The district (communes) work together within a public établissement for intercommunal cooperation (notably the communities of districts) in order to organize various services (refuse collection, purification, urban transport, primary teaching…) or to work on development projects. The districts (communes) then transmit the relevant competences to the inter- communal structure which is created.

Since 1995 (Land Use Planning and Developement Act, 1995) the communities of the districts( communes) can group together to make a stucture called Pays. This can be done in the form of an association (1901 Act) like the Pays Bessin. The Pays is founded on local goodwill and its objective is to be committed to a collective strategy of development. It also aims to establish solidarity between rural and town areas.

The Planning for Territorial Cohesion (Schéma de Cohérence Territoriale, ScOT) was created with a bill passed in December 2000 (The S.R.U. Act). It’s a document concerning town planning which states the plans and rules in the Basin in order to preserve the balance between urban zones – industrial – touristic - agricultural and natural.
The ScOT must rest coherant with local town planning (PLU, ex POS) district maps, local housing plans (PLH) plans for travelling in the city (PDU) landowner transactions and development, regional commercial planning and development and authorization of commercial town planning.

There are two ScoT in the region of Pays du Bessin au Virois : 

• ScoT bessin : www.scotbessin.fr
• ScoT Bocage : www.scot-bocage.org