75-year-old Michel Pitance and his son Olivier are estranged from each other and each running their own kayak rental business on the Lesse river. Michel’s company, which operates under his surname, absorbed Ansiaux and Libert, its competitors, and now there is only one rental company on the river. However, Michel wants to relaunch his own rental company and has requested a permit for 800 kayaks, which will be taken from his son’s existing fleet. This move has escalated an already strained family conflict, with Olivier previously attempting to prove in court that his father’s company belongs to him. Michel, who has been involved in the river rental business since 1978, believes that he has a right to the quota since the court ruled in his favor. The application procedure for the permit will take at least two years, and a public information meeting will be held on April 25 in Houyet. Meanwhile, Olivier is also pursuing a permit for 1,400 kayaks, which includes the 800 claimed by his father. The situation has left the town hall of Dinant confused as permits are being filed for identical resources. The tension between the two men has led to duplication of resources, such as two identical incidence studies and pontoons, making it more challenging to operate on the river.
Michel Pitance, 75, is completely marginalized with his son Olivier, and vice versa. There is only one kayak rental company left on the Lesse, Pitance, in the patronymic sense. Over time, the family swallowed up competitors, Ansiaux and Libert.
Is the competition over?
Maybe not for long. Because, while Olivier has been managing all the activity for a while, now Michel wants to relaunch one, at the same time. He has just initiated a request to launch 800 boats. Subtlety, these will not be (provided the procedure succeeds) additional kayaks, but part of those of Olivier.
Difficult to navigate in a family conflict that escalates. Explanation by Michel Pitance: “Olivier tried in court to prove that my company is his, but he was unsuccessful”. The patriarch, who was active on the Lesse from 1978, considers on the basis of this court decision that a quota of 800 kayaks is his. He intends to manage them, hence the administrative procedure which will be punctuated in particular by a public information meeting on April 25 in Houyet (Editor’s note: the descent of the Lesse, upstream, also concerns this commune). Then there will be an impact study and so on. It’s gone for at least two years.
Meanwhile, Olivier Pitance, a few months ago, also launched the procedure for an ordering of existing permits in order to launch 1,400 kayaks… including the 800 claimed by his father, court decision at the ‘support. The 800 for which the latter is simultaneously launching another request, in the name of his company, SRL Pitance. At the town hall of Dinant, it is very difficult to find your way around.
All in duplicate?
Analysis by Michel Pitance: “It’s a split, I don’t share Olivier’s way of working, he crushes everyone. We can’t get by with him anymore, he’s a character”.
Olivier, on the other hand, thinks that his father is doing everything to annoy him, by trying to revive himself at his age, without having parking lots, showers or other infrastructures. Except that his father, in addition to the famous 800 kayaks, also has piers, in Houyet but also in Anseremme. So we risk doing everything twice.
Hence Olivier’s idea of installing a crane in Anseremme (at the end of the descents of the Lesse) to lift the boats out of the water. Reflection of his father, on this point: “It’s a crazy thing”.
All in duplicate? Pontoons, but also two identical incidence studies (one already well advanced, by Olivier, the other that Michel will order)… it’s less and less simple on the river. It was more so during the time of the three incumbents (including Michel Pitance), despite the many tensions between them. From now on, the quarrels take place within the Anseremoise family itself.
In conclusion, the once united Pitance family is now divided over the competition in the kayak rental business on the Lesse. Michel and Olivier are both vying for control, with Michel launching a request for 800 kayaks and Olivier seeking to order permits for 1,400 kayaks, including the 800 claimed by his father. The family conflict is escalating, with each accusing the other of crushing competition and doing things twice. It remains to be seen how this will play out and if the family can find a way to resolve their differences and work together. Meanwhile, customers looking to rent a kayak on the Lesse may find themselves dealing with two separate and competing rental companies run by members of the same family.
