This pipeline is just one stage in a multinational project to bring LNG to the UK from the Middle East via what will be the biggest LNG terminal in the world at Milford Haven. South Hook LNG is a joint project between Qatar Petroleum and ExxonMobil, while a second, smaller terminal, Dragon LNG, is run by a consortium in which BG Group is the major partner.

Concerns about and objections to the £700 million pipeline project are numerous: the UK is committing to decades of reliance on fossil fuels imported from thousands of miles away rather than investing in renewable energy projects at home; laying the pipeline will cut a swathe the width of a motorway through the countryside, including a part of the Brecon Beacons National Park, recently designated a UNESCO National Geopark; the planned route includes unstable areas liable to landslide and earthquake, which are deemed too dangerous for mains gas to be piped to local homes; the pipeline design is untested and will operate at higher pressure than existing gas pipelines; and so on [more objections].

Local campaigners from along the route of the pipeline are working together as the Safe Haven Network, supported by climate change action group Rising Tide, along with many other groups and individuals. Seasoned activists with experience of direct action working alongside committed local campaigners with detailed knowledge of the terrain appears to be a powerful combination. Ongoing direct action is happening in and around Trebanos, at Milford Haven and at Cilfrew, and looks set to spread to other places along the pipeline route. In the past couple of weeks, work on the site has been held up repeatedly by the protesters, who have employed walking and static blockades, lock-ons and occupation of cranes and other machinery. Some of these actions have met with violent responses from construction site workers, one of whom ignored safety considerations to move a crane with an activist locked on by his neck at a considerable height from the ground.

More activists are arriving in South Wales every day, and call-outs have been made for others to join the campaign [invitations: 1 | 2].