The closest neighbour to Cwm Cynfal says the fight “is not over” to stop a controversial hydroscheme.

Pat Thynne lives in the 500-year-old farmhouse that sits just a few hundred yards downstream from Rhaeadr y Cwm waterfall in the Cwm Cynfal valley, where last week permission was granted to install a hydroscheme.

The scheme would harness the power of the waterfall to generate electricity with the potential to provide low-cost energy for up to 700 homes in Llan Ffestiniog, created by farming brothers Dafydd Elis, Elis Dafydd and Moi Dafydd.

Residents and environmental NGO's have joined forces in the campaign against the Cwm Cynfal hydro-electric scheme. Photo: Rory Francis/ Caru Cwm Cynfal
Pat Thynne’s house can be seen sitting below Cwm Cynfal. Photo: Rory Francis/ Caru Cwm Cynfal (Rory Francis/ Caru Cwm Cynfal)

Despite more than 1,000 formal objections to the plans including many environmental organisations, Eryri National Park Authority granted the brothers permission on 24 June.

In response, Pat, a 74-year-old retired local government lawyer, said: “I am really disappointed in the National Park as it seems to have forgotten what it was set up to do: To conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of the area. To promote opportunities for the understanding and enjoyment of the special qualities of the National Park. To seek to foster the social and economic wellbeing of the local communities within the National Park.

“This scheme will inevitably damage the nature, wildlife, ecology of this place and neither conserve nor enhance it.

“The UK may need more renewable energy but it also desperately needs more nature - and to defend the nature we do have!

“We are one of the most nature-depleted countries in Europe.”

The plans, along with the bryophytes found along the site in a 2023 study.
The plans, along with the bryophytes found along the site in a 2023 study. (Bryophyte Surveys Ltd)

The plans would involve building two permanent buildings, digging a 1.2 km pipeline and weir. Pat is concerned that irreversible damage will be caused by the 6m-wide construction corridor, 3.6m-wide construction access from the B4391 (which has previously collapsed), and the river's “depleted reach”.

Afon Cynfal runs through the gorge ending in a steep 120m drop, home to protected species including bryophytes, part of it deemed a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), sections of “considerable historic interest” with 24 archaeological areas, a Special Protection Area (SPA) and Special Area of Conservation (SAC).

Campaigners are concerned with the impact on delicate species caused by 70 per cent of the water above a cap being syphoned off and returned to the river downstream.

The cascade has been captured by many artists, including Victorian landscape painter David Cox, whose 1836 watercolour of Rhaeadr y Cwm hangs in the British Museum.
The cascade has been captured by many artists, including Victorian landscape painter David Cox, whose 1836 watercolour of Rhaeadr y Cwm hangs in the British Museum. (The British Museum)

Pat said the consequences of this decision could reach far beyond the valley: “My biggest concern is the implications of the National Park's decision that the need for renewable energy means all statutory protections for nature can, in effect, be set aside.

“Planning Policy Wales says emphatically that you cannot put development in a SSSI except in ‘wholly exceptional circumstances'.

“The National Park has decided that the need for renewable energy amounts to ‘wholly exceptional circumstances’.

“That is in danger of establishing a precedent that would impact the whole country and lead to a gold rush of developers seeking to throw up dodgy energy schemes in supposedly protected landscapes.

“It is reckless and damaging, and I hope we can prove it is unlawful.

“You cannot save the planet by destroying another bit of it.

“This is not over!”

Pat said Cwm Cynfal "belongs to the people of Llan Ffestiniog" - "they come and walk their dogs here, the blokes go fishing, the kids go swimming here; it belongs to them.”
Pat said Cwm Cynfal "belongs to the people of Llan Ffestiniog" - "they come and walk their dogs here, the blokes go fishing, the kids go swimming here; it belongs to them.” (Pat Thynne)