Farmers taken to court in pylon access row

FARMERS have been taken to court for the first time by a company over a refusal to grant access to their land for pylons.

- JONATHON HILL

Last year Green GEN Cymru, a renewable energy subsidiary company to Bute Energy, wrote to farmers requesting access to their land to raise the pylons across Wales from Carmarthenshire to near the English border.

The aim is to build two pylon highways through Wales to connect a large number of wind farms which are at various planning stages.

Landowners received letters informing them their land would be used for pylons which would travel 60 miles from Mid Wales to a substation near Carmarthen connecting the wind farms to the grid.

One of the pylon highways, named the Towy Usk route, would run from Nant Mithil to Llandyfaelog going through Aberedw Hill, Llangammach Wells, Llandovery, Llandeilo and Llandyfaelog.

The other named the Towy Teifi route would run from Lan Fawr to Lampeter through to Llanllwni, Alltwalis, Rhydargeau and Llandyfaelog.

The plan is for it to go for planning approval next year, with the earliest a decision could be made being that year. Construction would commence the following year, with the scheme operational by 2028.

Both schemes have to be decided by Planning and Environment Decisions Wales (Pedw).

But there is a fly in the ointment for Bute Energy and Green GEN because many of the farmers are not allowing access to their land and are determined to stand firm.

Farmers claim the pylons would severely damage tourism in the region and would be a blot on the landscape. They say they believe it is possible to put infrastructure for proposed wind farms underground.

Green GEN confirmed it had applied for court warrants to access private land by force after landowners refused its initial applications.