'Abandoned ideals of empathy, compassion and morality': Hunter landholders slam EnergyCo.

The Advertiser

13-05-2025

Three Hunter landholders have told a parliamentary inquiry that they have been collateral damage in the quest to build the state's new renewable energy transmission infrastructure at breakneck speed.
Ian Barry, Kathy Morris and Ben Turner, who testified at the Upper House inquiry looking into the impact of renewable energy zones on regional communities, said that their lives had been irreparably damaged by the compulsory land acquisition process undertaken for the Hunter Transmission Project (HTP).
The government's energy corporation, EnergyCo, which is responsible for planning the 100-kilometre transmission line between Bayswater and Eraring power stations, was universally condemned for unceasingly bullying landholders who resisted its plans.
"Energy Co. has abandoned ideals of empathy, compassion and morality and taken a path of ill-conceived shortcuts and oversights," Cedar Creek resident Ian Barry told the inquiry.
Mr Barry, who has advanced motor neurone disease, said he and his wife Vicky had spent a year arguing that more suitable alternatives to running high-voltage power lines across his land existed.
Despite that, they were advised late last year that EnergyCo would compulsorily acquire an easement through their property, resulting in infrastructure coming within 600 metres of the house where Mr Barry had hoped to spend his final days in peace.
"Effectively, easement doesn't mean renting your land. It means you no longer own it," Mr Barry, who previously shared his experiences with NSW Climate Change and Energy Minister Penny Sharpe, said.
"We have a year of diary entries documenting land access, coercion of neighbours, frequent bullying, phony eco-visits, lies, plus instances where EnergyCo. workers denied me basic disability rights like recording meetings and withholding information like easement details of our own land."
Kathy and Peter Morris's 20-hectare property on the fringe of Pokolbin State Forest will also be compulsorily acquired for the HTP.
Ms Morris said, based on her experience Energy Co was a "disorganised, self contradictory, mostly unfeeling, mostly un-listening, entity that is miserly with facts and seeks to overreach and bludgeon affected land holders into submission."
Most of the property's dense native vegetation, much of which has been rehabilitated, is likely to be cleared for transmission infrastructure.
Likewise, an animal sanctuary located on the property will also go by the wayside.
Despite the emotional impact, Ms Morris said EnergyCo representatives had made her feel like she was an inconvenience to them.
"We've been told that we're too emotional about the loss of our home. I have been told I am too angry, and when am I going to get over it? I have been told that I should be happy with what I get," she said.
"I thought that EnergyCo was a public body serving the people of NSW, but it acts like its activities are state secrets and we are spies for the opposing government."
Ben Turner's family owns a 175 hectare property in the Watagan Valley south of Cessnock that is due to have high voltage power lines strung over it.
He told the inquiry that a power imbalance existed between the acquisition authority and landowners.
"There is an inherent negotiating imbalance between a well-funded government entity and a dispossessed landowner who is not paid for their time in navigating the dispossession that they did not want in the first place," he said.
"Secondly, acquiring authorities general unconditional reliance on their own valuer and other experts leaves little room for meaningful negotiation or compromise in circumstances where reasonable, qualified expert opinions may differ between the parties."
Three Hunter landholders have told a parliamentary inquiry that they have been collateral damage in the quest to build the state's new renewable energy transmission infrastructure at breakneck speed.
Ian Barry, Kathy Morris and Ben Turner, who testified at the Upper House inquiry looking into the impact of renewable energy zones on regional communities, said that their lives had been irreparably damaged by the compulsory land acquisition process undertaken for the Hunter Transmission Project (HTP).
The government's energy corporation, EnergyCo, which is responsible for planning the 100-kilometre transmission line between Bayswater and Eraring power stations, was universally condemned for unceasingly bullying landholders who resisted its plans.
"Energy Co. has abandoned ideals of empathy, compassion and morality and taken a path of ill-conceived shortcuts and oversights," Cedar Creek resident Ian Barry told the inquiry.
Mr Barry, who has advanced motor neurone disease, said he and his wife Vicky had spent a year arguing that more suitable alternatives to running high-voltage power lines across his land existed.
Despite that, they were advised late last year that EnergyCo would compulsorily acquire an easement through their property, resulting in infrastructure coming within 600 metres of the house where Mr Barry had hoped to spend his final days in peace.
"Effectively, easement doesn't mean renting your land. It means you no longer own it," Mr Barry, who previously shared his experiences with NSW Climate Change and Energy Minister Penny Sharpe, said.
"We have a year of diary entries documenting land access, coercion of neighbours, frequent bullying, phony eco-visits, lies, plus instances where EnergyCo. workers denied me basic disability rights like recording meetings and withholding information like easement details of our own land."
Kathy and Peter Morris's 20-hectare property on the fringe of Pokolbin State Forest will also be compulsorily acquired for the HTP.
Ms Morris said, based on her experience Energy Co was a "disorganised, self contradictory, mostly unfeeling, mostly un-listening, entity that is miserly with facts and seeks to overreach and bludgeon affected land holders into submission."
Most of the property's dense native vegetation, much of which has been rehabilitated, is likely to be cleared for transmission infrastructure.
Likewise, an animal sanctuary located on the property will also go by the wayside.
Despite the emotional impact, Ms Morris said EnergyCo representatives had made her feel like she was an inconvenience to them.
"We've been told that we're too emotional about the loss of our home. I have been told I am too angry, and when am I going to get over it? I have been told that I should be happy with what I get," she said.
"I thought that EnergyCo was a public body serving the people of NSW, but it acts like its activities are state secrets and we are spies for the opposing government."
Ben Turner's family owns a 175 hectare property in the Watagan Valley south of Cessnock that is due to have high voltage power lines strung over it.
He told the inquiry that a power imbalance existed between the acquisition authority and landowners.
"There is an inherent negotiating imbalance between a well-funded government entity and a dispossessed landowner who is not paid for their time in navigating the dispossession that they did not want in the first place," he said.
"Secondly, acquiring authorities general unconditional reliance on their own valuer and other experts leaves little room for meaningful negotiation or compromise in circumstances where reasonable, qualified expert opinions may differ between the parties."
Three Hunter landholders have told a parliamentary inquiry that they have been collateral damage in the quest to build the state's new renewable energy transmission infrastructure at breakneck speed.
Ian Barry, Kathy Morris and Ben Turner, who testified at the Upper House inquiry looking into the impact of renewable energy zones on regional communities, said that their lives had been irreparably damaged by the compulsory land acquisition process undertaken for the Hunter Transmission Project (HTP).
The government's energy corporation, EnergyCo, which is responsible for planning the 100-kilometre transmission line between Bayswater and Eraring power stations, was universally condemned for unceasingly bullying landholders who resisted its plans.
"Energy Co. has abandoned ideals of empathy, compassion and morality and taken a path of ill-conceived shortcuts and oversights," Cedar Creek resident Ian Barry told the inquiry.
Mr Barry, who has advanced motor neurone disease, said he and his wife Vicky had spent a year arguing that more suitable alternatives to running high-voltage power lines across his land existed.
Despite that, they were advised late last year that EnergyCo would compulsorily acquire an easement through their property, resulting in infrastructure coming within 600 metres of the house where Mr Barry had hoped to spend his final days in peace.
"Effectively, easement doesn't mean renting your land. It means you no longer own it," Mr Barry, who previously shared his experiences with NSW Climate Change and Energy Minister Penny Sharpe, said.
"We have a year of diary entries documenting land access, coercion of neighbours, frequent bullying, phony eco-visits, lies, plus instances where EnergyCo. workers denied me basic disability rights like recording meetings and withholding information like easement details of our own land."
Kathy and Peter Morris's 20-hectare property on the fringe of Pokolbin State Forest will also be compulsorily acquired for the HTP.
Ms Morris said, based on her experience Energy Co was a "disorganised, self contradictory, mostly unfeeling, mostly un-listening, entity that is miserly with facts and seeks to overreach and bludgeon affected land holders into submission."
Most of the property's dense native vegetation, much of which has been rehabilitated, is likely to be cleared for transmission infrastructure.
Likewise, an animal sanctuary located on the property will also go by the wayside.
Despite the emotional impact, Ms Morris said EnergyCo representatives had made her feel like she was an inconvenience to them.
"We've been told that we're too emotional about the loss of our home. I have been told I am too angry, and when am I going to get over it? I have been told that I should be happy with what I get," she said.
"I thought that EnergyCo was a public body serving the people of NSW, but it acts like its activities are state secrets and we are spies for the opposing government."
Ben Turner's family owns a 175 hectare property in the Watagan Valley south of Cessnock that is due to have high voltage power lines strung over it.
He told the inquiry that a power imbalance existed between the acquisition authority and landowners.
"There is an inherent negotiating imbalance between a well-funded government entity and a dispossessed landowner who is not paid for their time in navigating the dispossession that they did not want in the first place," he said.
"Secondly, acquiring authorities general unconditional reliance on their own valuer and other experts leaves little room for meaningful negotiation or compromise in circumstances where reasonable, qualified expert opinions may differ between the parties."
Three Hunter landholders have told a parliamentary inquiry that they have been collateral damage in the quest to build the state's new renewable energy transmission infrastructure at breakneck speed.
Ian Barry, Kathy Morris and Ben Turner, who testified at the Upper House inquiry looking into the impact of renewable energy zones on regional communities, said that their lives had been irreparably damaged by the compulsory land acquisition process undertaken for the Hunter Transmission Project (HTP).
The government's energy corporation, EnergyCo, which is responsible for planning the 100-kilometre transmission line between Bayswater and Eraring power stations, was universally condemned for unceasingly bullying landholders who resisted its plans.
"Energy Co. has abandoned ideals of empathy, compassion and morality and taken a path of ill-conceived shortcuts and oversights," Cedar Creek resident Ian Barry told the inquiry.
Mr Barry, who has advanced motor neurone disease, said he and his wife Vicky had spent a year arguing that more suitable alternatives to running high-voltage power lines across his land existed.
Despite that, they were advised late last year that EnergyCo would compulsorily acquire an easement through their property, resulting in infrastructure coming within 600 metres of the house where Mr Barry had hoped to spend his final days in peace.
"Effectively, easement doesn't mean renting your land. It means you no longer own it," Mr Barry, who previously shared his experiences with NSW Climate Change and Energy Minister Penny Sharpe, said.
"We have a year of diary entries documenting land access, coercion of neighbours, frequent bullying, phony eco-visits, lies, plus instances where EnergyCo. workers denied me basic disability rights like recording meetings and withholding information like easement details of our own land."
Kathy and Peter Morris's 20-hectare property on the fringe of Pokolbin State Forest will also be compulsorily acquired for the HTP.
Ms Morris said, based on her experience Energy Co was a "disorganised, self contradictory, mostly unfeeling, mostly un-listening, entity that is miserly with facts and seeks to overreach and bludgeon affected land holders into submission."
Most of the property's dense native vegetation, much of which has been rehabilitated, is likely to be cleared for transmission infrastructure.
Likewise, an animal sanctuary located on the property will also go by the wayside.
Despite the emotional impact, Ms Morris said EnergyCo representatives had made her feel like she was an inconvenience to them.
"We've been told that we're too emotional about the loss of our home. I have been told I am too angry, and when am I going to get over it? I have been told that I should be happy with what I get," she said.
"I thought that EnergyCo was a public body serving the people of NSW, but it acts like its activities are state secrets and we are spies for the opposing government."
Ben Turner's family owns a 175 hectare property in the Watagan Valley south of Cessnock that is due to have high voltage power lines strung over it.
He told the inquiry that a power imbalance existed between the acquisition authority and landowners.
"There is an inherent negotiating imbalance between a well-funded government entity and a dispossessed landowner who is not paid for their time in navigating the dispossession that they did not want in the first place," he said.
"Secondly, acquiring authorities general unconditional reliance on their own valuer and other experts leaves little room for meaningful negotiation or compromise in circumstances where reasonable, qualified expert opinions may differ between the parties."