½ûÂþÌìÌÃ

Ìýit seems that this is a sort of open debate regarding EU or UK regs when actually people are living in Italy and are governed by ½ûÂþÌìÌà law... accept that... then you accept what you can and cannot do...Ìýi am not a saint in this respect i did keep a UK registered vehicle on the road and in my possession Ìýfor longer than ½ûÂþÌìÌà law allowed .. Ìýbasically because it was one of my favourite cars and had hauled us and our belongings safely to Italy... Ìýand i spent Ìýtwo years trying to get it re-registered here and legal... no hope..Japanese import and Mistsubishi were not that helpful.. eventually it was given to the local scrap dealer... because in essence i could not even keep it on our grounds without paying the yearly bollo and couldnt pay that cause i couldn't import it..my final word...well maybe on the risks.. is that should you be involved in an accident where injury to a person or even death...remember Italy has one of the highest rates of road accidents in Europe...something like 3000 deaths and several times that amount of injuries that are non fatal... there are two roads that are taken against people...both civil and criminal... if you arrive at one of these sorts of prosecutions the insurance company will do all in their power to get out of the extreme costs likely to be involved... Ìýyou will be a foreigner ..always a disadvantage in any court of law here.. your insurance company will no longer be your friend as they are about to end up most probably Ìýpaying out ..not their favourite pastime ...and they will no doubt be able to prove that you committed fraud somewhere within your application form..to my mind an acceptable risk for those moving here is to have your car taxed, insured and mot'd for 12 months before you leave your home in order to allow yourselves time to sort out all the usual ½ûÂþÌìÌà things... and to be able to avoid a hire car but have transport... at the end of that 12 months ditch it...either scrap or back to the UK and sold...unless its worth the price and time of re-registering.. ... Ìý but check this out long before its legal road certificates run out to leave yourself options of safely getting rid of it...Ìý

Ìýthere are loop holes...but are they when you get down to it real loopholes...Ìýto own a vehicle here in Italy you pay road tax...based on its size..etc etc... its without doubt a pain for all of us that do so... Ìý when you think about some of the road conditions here and the fact you often have to pay to use them... however it is the way the ½ûÂþÌìÌà state collects money to distribute amongst the various responsible entities which maintain the roads.. by following many of the options above you are avoiding this tax..and to my mind anyway most of the people that run vehicles in this manner are the loudest complainers when it comes to the road conditions here or the fact that their comunes do not have money...the insurance schemes have been or are clearly set up for those that find themselves employed abroad with difficulties of long term coverage and ½ûÂþÌìÌà law is quite clear on how long as a resident of this country you have to fulfil various obligations, ie driving licence , vehicle re registration and health... no matter what way you twist it if you want to live here permanently you have to take on those options.. .Ìýseems pretty silly to want to live in a place and avoid all the normal conditions of living in any country in the world where civic responsibilities regarding paying into the country of your choice are avoided... taking into account the guiding principal here of love of all things ½ûÂþÌìÌà i would have thought there might have been a queue outside the various taxation offices...Ìý

Ìýronald you are right...had not visited the new online mag... Ìýand i did not mean to suggest any probs with your two writers... my opinion was based on the past... Ìýam not sure there is that much new content as yet...with just two writers it will take some time i would think... Ìýa story doesn't fall off the back of a lorry... takes weeks of research and writing ... so yes i can see a bit of change... and am sure as they get going there will be much more input and original work... Ìýas you say it has only been two weeks then i still justify my comment based on the very recent past...but accept building takes time... and hopefully it will all go ahead as planned.. however i still say original content is missing... nothing in the Abruzzo section for example is that enticing ...although maybe other regions are getting better coverage...seems to me that as an online magazine contact with journalists here in Italy in a much wider range of regions would essentially create a more wide range and complete content to your online mag maybe going outside the usual repetitive articles that seem to make the rounds in all lifestyle mags..online or on paper...ÌýÌýi know that many debates in the past suggested that there was no space in lifestyle magazines for serious debate on issues that are part of ½ûÂþÌìÌà life for all of us... either living here or just fans of the place... Ìýadvertisers would not have liked the maybe more truthful side and realistic view of an Italy that has good and bad in equal amounts... maybe now you are making a fresh start it would be worth considering that ½ûÂþÌìÌà cheeses and wines... property speculation and beautiful pictures ... as content is not enough to hold interest and that maybe advertisers do pay the bills...but obviously not enough... otherwise the paper version might still be here...its subscribers that are needed and very strong editorial content that brings readers back wanting more...so as to your last line...there is nothing much to say... there is nothing to agree or disagree with because there is no opinion expressed... and the content is as banal as it was before and makes good glossy content but my question is... is Ìýthat enoughÌý

Ìýcontent of the internet version is generally just regurgitated ½ûÂþÌìÌà newspaper news... sort of headline stuff.. in fact am not sure there are any journalists left...just translators... Ìýpaper version had more interest... although have to admit never bought it after moving here... subscribed to the other one...well the only one now I guess

Ìýi think...almost sure that whatever zone you were/are in your property should have been checked as to damage,the degree and if its habitable/non habitable and those results lodged with the comune technical office and then onto the protection civile.. Ìýthe last part is the comunes job...however the comune issued forms for people with damage to have filled in by their technical people after checking and this phase is now finished... if you had your property checked and its damage notified then its a question of time... if you have not done that first part... there is maybe a procedure to do this after the time limit is closed but then you will be at the back of a very long queue ...Ìý

Ìýas always there are debates on methods and what one will get for money... agree about the range of wood burning cooking appliances available...very common here... but they are dirty.. and the burning units are very small... you need a large dry area to store wood and also have to be available to re-stoke fire all the time if its an essential heating system... so you become a slave to the monster...most property here has two kitchens...one with the wood burning cooker...and is more of a working/functioanal kitchen with space for a large dining table... and is used in the winter... a reasonable wood burning cooker costs around the 1000 euro mark... basic and simple but functioanl... and then you have to add in chimney costs...a wood burning fire i would agree with the above post on as a viable solution.. but this would be a sitting room type fire...sealed glass front and water /central heater capable...they are expensive...around the 3000 euro mark cause you need pumps etc ... and fitting... install a proper flue... stainless steel... you are less a slave because they have huge capacity for burning huge logs.. again storage of wood and carrying is more a lifestyle choice and you need time and patience...there are many better alternatives... adding solar water heater panels helps ... if its tied into the gas... i use a huge pellet boiler... much more manageable in my opinion than wood... can run for three to five days with no intervention...cheaper than gas... most probably than wood too... and have a gas boiler back up..Ìýgeotherm/badger is an expert on those systems..Ìýthink carefully is my thought on your choice of main heating system.. you will know if you will be able to spend time nursing wood burning appliance .. i would definitely avoid the aga choice as a cost efficient method...its a compromise and expensive choice.. but its yours to make.. good luck with it all...Ìý

Ìýif your application has not been aproved i pretty well think its finished now... as regards time scales... the priority is being given to residents... without their own roofs over their heads...in normal ½ûÂþÌìÌà style i would have thought that churches will be next...if not before... and then historic centres... the rest in the past at least can go blow... although miraculously in L'Aquila people without homes have been given new homes already with several thousand almost ready... this for Italy is a first.. quakes in the past 100 years have seen people...well their descendants still living in huts...

Ìýno...no new laws as far as i am aware... Ìýthe rules have always been there...well in the recent past...Basilicata being quite a well known earthquake area would or should have had them all applied from long ago... however sales people when selling rarely mention the fact that restructuring will cost more than they estimate... Ìýbecause they are quoting costs of rebuilds on a faint hope that existing buildings will be strong enough to fall inside building regs.. Ìýthis is generaley untrue... and when you start real work you then find out that technicians will suggest that you have to go way beyond the original plans even to a complete rebuild... somewhere in between the two lies the truth...Ìýso the lie her in your story is that these regs always existed.. all buildings here have to be built to reg...who is to say the earthquake will not happen whilst you are in the shed... and the reason for the abruzzo buildings collapsing is that they were not... Ìýthis is despite the fact that the region of L'Aquila is all classed as seismic zone 1 the most likely to have a quake of a significant level...as are many parts of Basilicata the line runs down through there from the Molise and splits off two ways...one to calabria and sicily... the other down to the greek islands..ÌýÌýÌýanyway heres a historical picture of the last 100 years in Italy and its quakes... you will find history repeats itself in terms of quakes and if an area has had one it will get another... Ìýso its a pretty probable guide... as to why your property will need to be built to spec.. Ìýmy thought would be to check if the house you live in has been built according to your geometras idea of new regs... because it should have been or if new... to newish ie in the last 20-30 years.. your geometra seems a bit slow on that ... and if before that it has been restructured according to regulations ...again seismic regs should have applied to this too

Ìýthanks a lot

Ìýjust pop into your local comune...their technical officer will give u the rules ... but they are pretty well standard nationwide...