Green Man: Nesting ospreys ruin ministers' £4.25m festival farm plan

Two birds of prey have scuppered plans that saw the Welsh government spend £4.25m on a farm to help the Green Man festival company.

A restricted zone has been put in place on Gilestone Farm, Powys, to protect the nest of two ospreys - making the site unusable.

Ministers say it is the first time the birds have been seen so far south in Wales in 200 years.

The company said it would look at other opportunities.

It is expected the protected ospreys, which the Welsh government said were first seen at the site near Talybont-on-Usk last year, will return in the spring.

Officials are now considering selling the farm but the Welsh Conservatives said the purchase should never have happened in the first place.

Plaid Cymru said it had been a "fiasco" from the start, while the news was welcomed by campaigners.

Ministers bought the farm in 2022 with the intention of helping the company - since then Green Man has been in negotiations to lease the site.

While their main festival would have remained at Glan Usk Park, Green Man wanted to use the location for other events while continuing to farm the area.

The project had the support of Powys council but proved controversial locally, and there were concerns at the prospect of events taking place for as many as 3,000 people in a rural area.

Questions were raised too by opposition parties about why the government bought the farm before Green Man had submitted a business plan.

Later it emerged that Green Man had to rely on Welsh ministers to buy the farm as it was unable to source the funds itself.

An auditor said Welsh Labour ministers acted with "avoidable haste" when it made the purchase.

In a statement Economy Minister and leadership contender Vaughan Gething said the government was "surprised and delighted" to learn last August that a pair of ospreys had decided to nest on the Gilestone Farm site.

Ospreys are a schedule 1 species protected under law.

An expert adviser told the government last December that a "750m [2,460ft] restricted zone around the nest must be in place on the farm within which only very limited human activity can take place".

Mr Gething said it was clear "that the full commercial and charitable objectives of the Green Man Group, as set out in its business plan for the use of Gilestone Farm, can no longer be realised".

The economy minister said the government was committed to continuing to help Green Man "secure a suitable long-term base in Wales".

Mr Gething's written statement criticised the behaviour of some of those who were opposed to the plans, saying ministers do not "change decisions based on threats issued by third parties".

"It is equally disappointing that elected officials and business partners have been subject to sustained and personal attacks regarding this matter," he said, adding women had "borne the brunt of personal and abusive criticism".

The minister said there were still "opportunities for sustainable farming and economic development" at the site, and that ministers would extended the existing farm business tenancy.

Managing director of Green Man, Fiona Stewart, said: "While we are obviously disappointed that the project will not be going ahead at Gilestone Farm, we will now look at other opportunities.

"The team at Green Man extends its deepest gratitude to everyone who has supported the Gilestone Farm project."

Campaigners against the plans were pleased by the news.

The Stop Gilestone Farm Project said: "We have always been concerned that the environment and landscape is of paramount importance, and the appearance of two osprey has been testament to the exceptional habitat and wildlife in this area."

The group urged Mr Gething to investigate concerns of threats and personal attacks properly "rather than making a generalised statement which risks misrepresenting the community in Talybont-on-Usk".

"The Welsh government must accept there were legitimate local concerns about this scheme and these have always been carefully and respectfully presented by our campaign group."

Most opposition parties were united in criticism of the entire Welsh government project.

James Evans, Welsh Conservative MS for Brecon and Radnorshire, said: "The purchase of Gilestone Farm should never have happened in the first place".

"Conservation concerns were raised early on in this process, as were concerns about the purchase of the farm itself, and now the Labour government finds itself holding an expensive asset for a purpose completely alien to their initial plan," he added.

The Conservative MP for the same constituency, Fay Jones, said it was an "extraordinary waste of taxpayers' money".

Cefin Campbell of Plaid Cymru added: "This sorry tale has been a fiasco from the beginning - from questions over the purchase, to a lack of meaningful local engagement.

"What is most frustrating is that £4.25m could have made a real difference to rural development in mid Wales at a time when budgets are so tight."

Welsh Liberal Democrat Senedd member Jane Dodds added: "I would like to thank Green Man for the positive benefits that it brings to Powys and we hope there will be further opportunities for development in the future."