Over 300 Welsh farmers and landowners have launched High Court legal action against Green GEN Cymru, an energy company planning pylon infrastructure across rural Wales. They accuse the company of an unlawful abuse of power and coercive behavior by agents attempting to access private land for surveys related to proposed pylon routes spanning over 200 kilometers through Powys, Ceredigion, and Carmarthenshire.
The claimants allege agents crossed farm boundaries in dirty clothes, risking the spread of livestock diseases like Bovine Tuberculosis and Sheep Scab. They say agents refused to follow biosecurity and environmental protocols and walked through protected streams home to endangered native crayfish and otters. The proposed scheme involves three pylon routes leading to the Cambrian Mountains.
Legal Challenge
Natalie Barstow, named claimant and founder of Justice for Wales, said they were forced to act. «We have been left no choice but to seek legal action through the High Court as a result of this bullying campaign by Green GEN Cymru,» she explained. «We've had hundreds of reports from people feeling as if their homes are being invaded - many feel powerless, outnumbered, and fearful of being arrested or prosecuted.»
Barstow contrasted the company's approach with normal rural business practices. «The behaviour we've seen from Green GEN Cymru and its agents is like night and day in comparison - intrusive, intimidating, and utterly lacking in respect for the people who live and work here,» she said. Justice for Wales was established in response to growing unease about the process, the lack of transparency, and risks to farms and rural communities.
Mary Smith, lawyer at New South Law representing the farmers, said the case raises broader concerns. «This case raises fundamental questions about accountability in the UK's renewable energy transition and how industry behaviour is threatening the environment and communities' human rights,» she explained. She added: «Having the status of an acquiring authority carries a responsibility to behave lawfully and to treat the public reasonably and fairly. It does not grant companies a free pass to use oppressive and unlawful tactics when furthering their commercial objectives.»
A Green GEN Cymru spokesperson responded: «Green GEN Cymru will be responding as requested by the court to this application. We are reviewing the claim carefully with our legal advisers and will respond through the appropriate legal channels.»
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
