Facebook plea to buy Lake Vyrnwy for Wales

People across Wales are being urged to join a social networking site and club together to buy the £11 million Lake Vyrnwy estate for the nation.

The Lake Vyrnwy Co-operation Campaign (Ymgyrch Corfforaeth Llyn Efyrnwy) has been set up on Facebook in a bid to get a million Welsh people to buy a £10 share of the 23,000 acres - so it can belong to the people of Wales.

The group had 128 members earlier today and its creator Heledd Wyn Hardy, from Cardiff, appealed for more people to join.

She said: "Lake Vyrnwy estate is for sale for £11 million. If one million Welsh people bought a £10 share the land could belong to the people of Wales.

"The group is looking for more support and it needs as many people to join as possible in order to make the idea work."

Amazing

She said the site had already received a lot of support from members with many describing it as a "great idea".

Pure Portugal wrote: "Great idea, land should be taken care of by local communities but in this case the water rights are not included in the 11 million asking price but are available by separate negotiation.

"Natural resources should be looked after by local communities and not big corporations — this is an amazing opportunity to take back what is yours."

It comes after Severn Trent announced last week that it would be selling agriculture, forestry and commercial property around the lake but not the lake itself.

Glyn Davies, Montgomeryshire MP, has "provisionally welcomed" the announcements but felt it could bring uncertainty.

The lake and estate are currently owned by Severn Trent Water, which supplies eight million customers in the Midlands, the water from Vrynwy goes to Liverpool.

By Anwen Evans