Charity joins bid to buy Lake Vyrnwy Estate

A national wildlife charity and a major housing association have joined forces in a bid to buy the Lake Vyrnwy Estate.

Newtown-based Mid Wales Housing Association and RSPB Cymru claim their joint bid would benefit the local community of Llanwddyn and the surrounding villages.

Current owners, utility group Severn Trent, put the 23,000-acre estate up for sale on a 125-year lease earlier this year with a guide price of £11 million.

Earlier this month RSPB Cymru, on behalf of a number of public interest partners, placed an offer to buy the whole estate, while Mid Wales Housing Association had put in an offer for the estate's 31 residential and commercial properties.

Shane Perkins, chief executive of Mid Wales Housing Association, said today: "For its part, RSPB Cymru has the skills needed to manage the estate's varied habitats and in-hand farm, T Llwyd. Mid-Wales Housing Association has similar strengths in the forms of property management and commitment to affordable housing.

"We are therefore convinced that the partnership is a natural fit and offers the best possible outcome for the local community.

"Not only will current residents be assured that their local environment will be looked after and their standard of living maintained, but also more affordable houses will be available for those wanting to stay in the area who are struggling to get on the property ladder."

For more than 30 years, RSPB Cymru has been actively involved in managing the site and its acting director Laurence Rose said: "When the Liverpool Corporation began the construction of the Lake Vyrnwy Dam in the 19th century they promised to ensure the local community benefited from the development.

"More than a century on, Severn Trent Water now have the opportunity to keep that promise by ensuring the estate is sold to organisations whose main drivers are the interests of the public and the local community."

By Deborah Knox