Australian film and television director Ian Barry is living through a personal horror movie as he battles the state government over plans to run renewable energy transmission infrastructure across his picturesque Hunter property.
Mr Barry, who has advanced motor neurone disease, hopes he can hold on long enough to stop EnergyCo from acquiring a section of his home of 30 years for an easement needed as part of the Hunter Transmission Project.
Mr Barry and his lawyer Elaine Johnson say they have been frustrated by the government agency's lack of transparency and proper process over the past eight months.
In the latest example, Mr Barry and his wife Vicki travelled to Sydney for a meeting with EnergyCo on Wednesday to discuss an alternative route around his property. The meeting was cancelled at 4.45pm on Tuesday and is yet to be rescheduled.
Ms Johnson said she held grave concerns about the toll that the process was taking on her client's health and has appealed to Premier Chris Minns to intervene.
"Each meeting, each phone call, each email about this causes harm - it's visible and it's cruel," Ms Johnson said.
"It's particularly upsetting knowing that it doesn't have to happen. Everyone who is following Ian's story, and stands behind Ian and Vicki, wants to see an outcome that doesn't involve taking away any more of the precious time that they have left together."
A spokeswoman for the premier acknowledged the situation was "difficult".
"Our expectation is that EnergyCo manage this with respect and continues to work with Mr Barry," she said.
Ms Johnson has also filed a complaint, on the basis of disability discrimination, with the Human Rights Commission over EnergyCo's conduct during consultations with Mr Barry.
No easy options
EnergyCo has put forward three potential options for how the high voltage power lines could run through or around Mr Barry's 51 hectare heavily forested property at Cedar Creek.
The 'Central Alignment' would run through virgin bush on the eastern corner of Mr Barry's property.
An 'Eastern Alignment' would avoid Mr Barry's property and run along the fringe of property owned by Mr Barry's neighbour Ben Still.
A 'Western Alignment' would run through the western corner of Mr Barry's land and cause significant environmental destruction and come within 150 metres of his home.
The proposals were finally presented following a series of confusing and frustrating engagements with EnergyCo staff about their plans.
"In May, after confusion about the intended easement map showing a 34 per cent consumption of our land, we met at Millfield with (four EnergyCo representatives)," Mr Barry said.
"At the outset of the meeting I asked if I could record the meeting on my phone but was denied permission. They then showed us a slightly modified map that still consumed our northern clearing but minimised infringement of our whole eastern boundary.
"When asked if they'd give me a copy of that map they declined. There is a recurring theme of them not wanting a (written) record of their verbal assurances."
Not giving up
Mr Barry has proposed a solution that would keep the transmission infrastructure off his property but is yet to hear back from EnergyCo.
He has vowed to fight through the courts to save his land and spend his final days in peace.
"I'm approaching 80 and I've got a terminal disease," Mr Barry said.
"How do I 'move on'? EnergyCo would probably say take the compensation and check into an old age home. I saw my parents and Vick's mum in one. It's not the way I want to die."
Neighbour appalled
Ben Still, whose land is to the east of the Barrys, is equally opposed to having the infrastructure on his property and said he shared his neighbour's frustrations about EnergyCo.
"I've been briefing some lawyers and they have asked me 'what have they sent you?' To be honest, they haven't sent me much. They write down very little."
He is equally critical of EnergyCo's engagement methods, in particular its treatment of Mr Barry.
"I've raised Ian's case with them. I said 'you are going to go straight through the middle of his property when there are other options. He is a guy with a serious disease, who just wants to enjoy his property. You should be ashamed of yourselves.
"They said 'oh well, we will just have to buy them out'.
"They act like they are on a mission from god and are accountable to no one."
Project progress
A revised route map for the project published in May shows the majority of the $1 billion infrastructure project will now be built on power station, government and mining land.
EnergyCo said major revisions to the project's corridor had resulted the number of affected landholders going from 78 to less than 25.
An Environmental Impact Statement is due to be put on public exhibition later this year. Construction is due to start in 2026 in order to meet the government's 2028 completion deadline.
Like many others, Mr Still said he believes the project route should make greater use of existing power infrastructure easements between Bayswater and Eraring power stations.
"They reckon it's cheaper coming this way but they also admit they are still trying to work out their plan. That would imply that the costs are unknown," Mr Still said.
"(Expanding the existing easement) just seems like a better solution than putting it through all these properties and virgin bush, not to mention the impact that it is having on the people who live here.
"I feel despondent that we once had a tight community up here that has been shattered."
A long way to go
An EnergyCo spokesman said the Hunter Transmission Project was still in the planning stage and the team was working closely with affected landowners to refine the alignment and minimise impacts.
"As we build the HTP there will be unavoidable impacts to some private properties and we are meeting regularly with landowners to explain the early design and next steps, including the acquisition process in some cases," he said.
"EnergyCo recognises that these are difficult decisions for those that are affected. In deciding an alignment we consider a range of factors such as technical requirements and biodiversity impacts and endeavour to communicate these to landholders.
"On a project as significant as the HTP, it takes time to complete the technical assessments. This process is underway and will continue in coming months and we anticipate making further small but significant changes to the corridor to lessen the impacts on private landowners as well as the environment."
Call for project review
There are growing calls for a review of the project's implementation as well as its social, environmental and economic costs.
"There's a lot of goodwill out there in communities for the transition, including within host communities," Ms Johnson said.
"But we have to do renewables better than how we've done other projects in the past. The transition can't happen by bulldozing over the top of our most vulnerable.
"Host communities should be given early access to independent legal advice and representation, paid for by the state. Infrastructure and projects should be designed in ways that minimise impacts on people and nature."
Recorded for posterity
Mr Barry, whose credits include the 1974 cult classic Stone and the 1980 science fiction thriller Chain Reaction, is in the initial stages of making a documentary about his experiences with EnergyCo and the Hunter Transmission Project.
It will cover the politics, engineering challenges and social impacts among other issues.
EnergyCo will also be invited to participate.
"I want to pursue the truth. If landowners have issues they can be conveyed truthfully," Mr Barry said.
