Tensions rise as residents ‘David and Goliath’ battle with Green GEN Cymru continues

Sarah Eyles

It has been reported by landowners along the proposed Towy-Teifi pylon route that surveyors, acting on behalf of Green GEN Cymru (GGC), have been installing dormouse nest survey boxes without permission from the landowners.

Some of these devices are said to have been screwed into trees. This constitutes both trespass and criminal damage by the agents of GGC. There have also been sightings of vehicles driven into stocked fields without the landowners’ permission, where the occupants have spent time examining hedgerows.

This is contrary to biosecurity procedure and is unlawful trespass.

While GGC and their agents openly break the law, yet more landowners are being dragged to court for refusing access to surveyors with regard to the controversial new pylon route. There are ten land owners who have been summoned to the Llanelli Magistrates’ Court for a hearing on Tuesday 22^nd April at 10am.

There is now a GoFundMe fundraiser, launched by Craig Vaux, called Wales Against Pylons – Cymru yn Erbyn Peilonau, which in less than a week has received donations from over 130 people amounting to over £14,000. Local residents and businesses, and those from further afield, have been giving whatever they can afford, with donations ranging from £10 to £1,000.

This fund is to help with the defence of the landowners who have been threatened with legal costs of up to £50,000 each by GGC, if the ruling goes against them.

At the Llanelli Magistrates’ Court on Monday 7th April, GGC employed eight barristers and solicitors from a London law firm against a local defence lawyer on the Towy-Usk pylon route landowners’ side.

‘Weaponising’

This was accurately described by Anne Davies MP, and reported on the BBC news, as a ‘David and Goliath’ battle. GGC are effectively weaponising the case with their unreasonably high costs, knowing that, in the event of the defendants losing, these charges could bankrupt them.

Many of those who have been summoned to court, and others who have land on the proposed pylon routes, are suffering mental anxiety, sleeplessness and worry. Not only are they having to defend their land against trespassers, but they are also being threatened with court action and excessive legal costs.

GGC quote a Scottish report ‘House Prices: Impact of Beauly-Denny Grid Infrastructure’, commissioned by industry body Scottish Renewables, that states that ‘In Beauly, house prices have increased by 28% since 2015, compared with 30% and 29% across the local authority area.’ However, recent cases in the Lands Tribunal for Scotland suggest reductions of between 10% and 30% in property values arising from new pylon lines, according to Ian Thornton-Kemsley, a consultant at Galbraith with over 35 years of experience in property management.

This reduction of around one-third is what local residents are currently being quoted by estate agents for properties on the proposed Towy-Teifi pylon route.

Homeowners do not want to wait ten years for their devalued property prices to possibly go back to normal levels. Some elderly residents will not even live long enough to see if this will actually occur. And what about those who want to sell their properties within the next ten years?

Independent home buyers’ reports for properties put on the market near pylons often include warnings such as: ‘The property is located in close proximity to electrical pylons and overhead cables. The possible negative health effects of electromagnetic fields created by such equipment has been the subject of much media coverage. Public perception may affect the marketability and future value of the property.’

Property prices

It is interesting to note that in this Scottish report, commissioned by the renewables industry itself, the assumption is that properties near pylons rose in price over ten years to be the same as properties in neighbouring areas. However, the reverse could be the case: that the properties near pylons brought down the value of properties further away in Scotland.

In the same way, the sub-prime mortgage crisis 3000 miles away in the U.S. severely impacted the UK mortgage market in 2007-08. This so called ‘ripple effect‘ has been scientifically proved and describes how an event, in this case building pylons, can have cascading effects, often with unpredictable consequences.

This impact on property prices is unacceptable to residents on the proposed pylon route. GGC might be keen on saving money by using pylons and not underground powerlines, but this saving for them and their shareholders is heavily subsidised by local residents and the devaluation of their properties, and is an intolerable travesty of justice.

Houses are not just where people live. Carmarthenshire, for example, has a higher proportion of older residents compared to the overall Welsh population and many other areas in the UK. Properties are eventually used to fund people’s care-homes; provide a much-needed release of equity when a person downsizes in their later years; and delivers an inheritance to their children and grandchildren. It could also impact Council Tax revenue. The devaluation of prices could lead to property being moved to lower payment bands, thereby reducing the income available to the local council.

Welsh Government

Are the Welsh Government, which is encouraging the likes of GGC to ride roughshod over the citizens of rural Wales through their draconian Infrastructure (Wales) Act 2024, going to make up the short-fall in local government income caused by lower Council Tax payments and an increase in care-home subsidies?

And most importantly, properties are people’s homes, and in many cases also their livelihood. In Wales, properties are often a source of strong family connections, having been passed down through generations. This is particularly common in rural areas and can be a source of pride and cultural significance.

This David and Goliath battle is about more than legal representation. It is about the future of our communities. If GGC prevails, the ramifications will extend far beyond the Towy and Teifi valleys. This could set a dangerous precedent for the whole of Wales.