Llanfyllin Town Council are looking to raise £80,000 to buy the community’s main public green space.

The council is planning to launch a fundraising effort to raise the money required to purchase Cae Bodfach in order to continue using it for community events.

Former Bodfach Hall owner Simon Baynes MP has give the town council first refusal to buy the field that has been leased to the town for a peppercorn rent for the past 10 years.

Llanfyllin Mayor Alison Alexander said: “Cae Bodfach is a much-loved community space and is developing into an important home for wildlife.

“Town councillors have begun investigating funding opportunities to secure the field’s future for the town.

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“If anybody in the community would like to help councillors with this work, particularly if you have fundraising experience, your contribution would be very much appreciated.”

The news comes just days after the space hosted Llanfyllin’s Cae Bodfach Mini-Festival on April 7, a small community festival that featured an easter egg hunt, live music, fresh food, workshops and demonstrations while providing a platform for local environmental groups to showcase their work.

The event was heralded as a success by Cllr Alexander, who added: “This year’s event was really lovely, with a great turnout for a wonderfully relaxed afternoon. It ended up being even busier than we expected.”

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The field, situated behind the Spar supermarket, has changed significantly since the community took control of its management.

The field is popular with dog walkers, Ysgol Llanfyllin pupils have helped with environment projects on the land such as in 2021, when students from Llanfyllin joined with the Severn Rivers Trust to begin a photography project to document the work preparing the River Cain Valley against Climate Change, a project which also covered Cae Bodfach.

Local groups have planted an orchard, created a bike track and work is underway to build a sculpture celebrating the River Cain and the work of the Severn Rivers Trust.

The mowing regime has been changed to encourage wild flowers and the mini environment festival has begun over the past two years, with the organisers hoping to hold other annual events in the future.

Town councillors are now appealing to the public to help fundraise the £80,000 needed to secure Cae Bodfach for the townspeople.

Town Clerk Cath Pritchard is contactable via email at townclerk@llanfyllin.org or by telephone on 07495 297109.