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High Court Requires Proper Notice for Land Access but Upholds Green Gen Cymru Notices
The BBC reported that a High Court judge ruled Green Gen Cymru must provide adequate advance notice to landowners before entering their property. Groups representing more than 500 landowners challenged the company's practices during surveys for planned pylon routes. The firm must pay £21,000 toward the claimants' costs.
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A High Court judge ruled Monday that Green Gen Cymru must give landowners proper notice before accessing their land for surveys. The BBC reported that Mr Justice Kimblin found evidence the company had served some notices with insufficient regard to proper notice and reasonable entry times. A notice issued to lead claimant Natalie Barstow was unduly broad and lacking in particularity.
The judge also criticised the company's failure to address risks of spreading livestock diseases such as bovine TB from farm to farm. Groups representing more than 500 landowners took the company to court after claiming agents had left them frightened and intimidated.
Green Gen Cymru, owned by Bute Energy, plans three major electricity pylon routes connecting onshore windfarms in mid and west Wales to the wider grid.
The routes affect parts of Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Powys, with one extending into Shropshire. Green Gen Cymru must pay 60% of the claimants' costs, amounting to £21,000, plus its own legal fees. The judge refused to quash the legal notices issued by the company.
No action was taken under the Barstow notice other than a minor and inadvertent entry onto her land in July 2025. Natalie Barstow, who runs a farm and campsite near Builth Wells, Powys, said she felt hugely relieved and incredibly grateful at the outcome.
She added that the challenge was not a protest against renewable energy and that the landowner group had raised nearly £300,000 to fund the case.
Mary Smith of New South Law, which acted for the landowners, said the case would have implications for other communities affected by infrastructure projects from energy schemes to road-building. A Green Gen Cymru spokesperson acknowledged the judgment and said the company prefers to work collaboratively with landowners.
