Fiona Stewart, the owner of Green Man Festival, has said that the site of Gilestone Farm in Powys will be used to help young people into farming. This comes after Welsh Government was faced with criticism after it purchased the site in May for £4.5m in an attempt to secure the future of the festival, with Ms Stewart's company paying for commercial rent.
According to the BBC, Ms Stewart said she would employ a local farmer to manage the land, she wanted "farmers farming Gilestone" and that they were in the process of doing that. The boss also noted she would have preferred to have had a loan to buy the farm, but the Welsh Government wanted to own it and charge rent instead.
Back in May of this year, the economy minister, Vaughan Gething, said the government bought the 240-acre farm in the Brecon Beacons to ensure the art and music festival had a "permanent home" in Wales, but the festival said it would keep its event in Crickhowell, which prompted questions over the deal.
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According to Ms Stewart, the Green Man organisation had worked with the Welsh Government helping to promote Wales and Welsh products for many years and they had discussed about how to "diversify the brand and create jobs". When asked if she had approached the government for a loan to expand onto the farm rather than them buying it, she said that "they came to [her]" and she had not asked for financial help "because that was the model that [she] understood they wanted to give to [her]."
The model is similar to the one developed by the Welsh Government to support Cardiff-based independent TV company, Bad Wolf, she said, which was said to be "massively successful". When discussing Gilestone Farm, Fiona Stewart said that the government saw it as a "new model" as they would "retain assets".
"I can see why it's commercially attractive to them [to own the farm themselves], because they get the uplift for everything, I'm creating this and it's my risk," she told the BBC. "Owning it would have been nice, I would have liked to have done that, and that certainly was my intention."
On top of this, she said that for her business, one of the attractions was that the farm was already used for tourism and events, she noted "it seemed logical to build on that" while retaining it as a working farm. Under current plans, events would not take place at Gilestone farm until 2024 "depending on what local people thought about it".
Ms Stewart also dismissed claims that she would stop farming at Gilestone, stating that she had a "massive respect" for farmers. When speaking about the criticism Welsh Government had faced due to the purchase, she said that she had been accused of being a "hippy", she added: "That's not what I am about, I'm a business woman, and very proud of it."
In response, the Welsh Government said that no agreement had been reached on Gilestone Farm as of yet until a final decision had been made on its future after a diligent process had been completed. Welsh Government spokesperson said: "The Welsh Government purchased the site to support the growth of the Green Man festival.
"Green Man is one of five major independent festivals still running in the UK and an annual event that makes a 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 that Green Man has a permanent base in Wales for their administrative headquarters and associated business ventures.
"We have received the full business plan, which is subject to robust due diligence processes and consultation with the local community. No final decision on the future of Gilestone Farm will be made until the due diligence process is complete."
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