Green Man boss surprised by Welsh government farm purchase reaction

The boss of Green Man Festival said she has been "surprised" by the reaction to Welsh government spending £4.25m on a farm for the business.

Questions emerged over the transparency of the purchase of Gilestone Farm.

Fiona Stewart also said a meet up with two ministers at the home of a political lobbyist was purely a social event.

The Welsh government said it wanted to "ensure the festival continues to have a permanent home in Wales".

Education Minister Jeremy Miles, one of the ministers at the event, said he did not believe it was a "misjudgement".

Green Man first event at Craig Y Nos castle, near Glyntawe in Powys, in 2003 attracted 300 people, and promised "a fantastic 12 hours of folk and folktronica".

This year, 25,000 people are expected at the Glan Usk Estate in Crickhowell, Powys, over the course of the festival, which the organisers said generates £15m for the Welsh economy.

Speaking as the event got under way, Fiona Stewart said Green Man had been working with the Welsh government for many years.

"It's a successful concept that lots of people, including Welsh government want to utilise, but also the way we do it - we refuse sponsorship so we can promote Welsh beer for instance, is something that they really like.

"From a point of view of something that they would want, we fulfil a lot of the objectives of the Welsh government, so it's understandable that they wanted to create more of it."

"From their point of view, they are thinking about how much we could create if we were here for 12 months.

"Ages ago, we put together a vision document which was very extensive, and it's something that was seen by Powys Council and Welsh government, and that's something that triggered all of this I suppose," she added.

Ms Stewart said while she accepted there would be questions about the deal to buy the farm in Talybont-on-Usk, she did not foresee the reaction.

"I am surprised, some of the things that have been said, I didn't quite understand there would be a reaction in that way - especially because we have been around for such a long time.

"We have been in Powys for 20 years, and there is quite a lot of popular support for the event around here."

Asked why a full business plan was not submitted before the farm was bought, Ms Stewart said: "There was an extensive vision document submitted which was massive, so that portrayed lots of the targets and what we would want to do, and how we were going to do things."

Questions have also been raised about a social event attended by the festival boss at the home of a leading political lobbyist, along with Climate Change Minister Julie James MS, and Education Minister Jeremy Miles MS.

An inquiry ordered by the first minister found there was no breach of the ministerial rules.

But, because of the "risk of perceived conflict", First Minister Mark Drakeford decided neither minister will be involved in any future decisions relating to the farm.

Ministers will also be given fresh guidance on contacts with lobbyists in a personal capacity.

Ms Stewart said the group met as friends and they were there talking about social issues.

Mr Miles also said it was a "social occasion and no ministerial business was discussed".

He added: "Clearly, I wouldn't expect as education minister to have any role in the decision making around a farm in any case, but should that arise in the future, then as you will have seen from the first minister's statement, both myself and the minister for climate change will not take part in it."

When asked if the social gathering was a misjudgement, he replied: "No, I don't think it was.

"I think it's been clear that it was a social occasion amongst people who knew each other."

The Welsh government said: "Green Man is one of five major independent festivals still running in the UK, and an annual event that makes significant contribution to Wales' economy, we want to harness the additional positive contribution of the festival to local businesses, the community and the Welsh economy, and ensure the festival continues to have a permanent home in Wales."

It added it had received a full business plan and no final decision on the future of Gilestone Farm would be made until a "robust" due diligence process was completed.