Net zero dam threatens waterfall at Welsh beauty spot

Plans to convert a famed Welsh waterfall into a hydroelectric power station have triggered a fierce backlash from campaigners. The Snowdonia Society charity is poised to launch a legal challenge to stop the conversion of the Rhaeadr y Cwm waterfall , which has long inspired poets and artists. The judicial review aims to halt plans to redirect water from Rhaeadr y Cwm, which is located in Snowdonia National Park, into nearby hydroelectric turbines to generate low-carbon power.

It comes after farming brothers Moi Dafydd and Elis Dafydd recently secured planning permission for the project from Snowdonia National Park . Graeme Cotterill, the director of the Snowdonia Society, warned that the project risked ruining the beauty spot, which inspired a 1836 painting of the mist-shrouded gorge by Victorian landscape artist David Cox and which hangs in the British Museum. He said: “This scheme will damage one of the National Park’s most iconic waterfalls.

“Nearly 70pc of the water would be diverted away from the waterfall into a plastic pipe, threatening the sensory experience and unique environment associated with this special place.” The Rhaeadr y Cwm waterfall is renowned for the 122 metre multi-tiered drop, with water creating a thunderous roar as it cascades over each successive rock shelf, shrouding the area in mist. Under the Dafydds’ scheme, the river above the waterfall would be dammed before water is diverted into a mile-long plastic pipe buried in a trench dug or drilled into the surrounding rocky landscape.

The trench, up to four metres deep in places, would take the water downhill into a turbine house to generate low-carbon power but leaving little water in the river. The waterfall has multiple forms of protection. As well as lying in a national park, it is also a site of special scientific interest and part of a “special protection area” designated for its rare plants and animals. Such sites are protected by planning law that says that developments should only be permitted in “wholly exceptional circumstances”.

However, Snowdonia National Park has deemed that climate change and the need to reach net zero should be classed as an exceptional circumstance – opening the way for many more energy developments in protected areas. An environmental impact assessment by the applicants argued that the project was justified by the green energy it would produce. “The proposal represents a unique opportunity to provide clean, renewable energy which respects the special qualities of the national park contributing towards strong ecosystems, and improving the health and well-being of our communities,” they said.

Lily Hartley-Mathews, a solicitor for the society, said: “At its heart this action is about ensuring that decisions to approve major developments in a National Park are taken lawfully in accordance with the national and local planning policies that protect places of such significance.” William Gallimore, of the British Hydropower Association, said: “The UK needs new renewable generation, including new hydropower. Each proposal must be assessed on its individual merits, balancing the need for clean, reliable electricity with the protection of the local environment.”