“I came here for the peace and to get away from people,” Nina Krauzewicz admitted, with a laugh accompanied by a puff of the cheeks and a tone of resignation. Looking out of the window of her picturesque home over the small, green village of Talybont-on-Usk in the Brecon Beacons, she is struggling to come to terms with the idea that she might soon be overlooking the site of a festival which could triple the village’s population.
“I would think about leaving,” she said, contemplating what the village already “chock-a-block” with tourists in the summer months might look like with the added impact of Green Man’s proposed expansion here. In spring last year the Welsh Government bought 240-acre Gilestone Farm which neighbours the village for £4.25m with the intention to allow Green Man chief executive Fiona Stewart to use the farm as a hub for the company to grow its brand. Some locals lament that the farm hadn’t been advertised on the open market and was bought without the government having seen a business plan.
WalesOnline understands there are initial plans to host at least three music events a year at the farm with 3,000 visitors expected each time, while Ms Stewart has spoken to BusinessLive of plans to house a bakery and a microbrewery there too. The government is still discussing Ms Stewart’s proposals, still to be assessed by Brecon Beacons National Park Authority and Powys County Council, for the currently flooded farm and has told locals they will be consulted soon.
