THERE IS a chance to find out more about proposed future plans for an off-grid community near Newport at the town's Memorial Hall today, Wednesday, September 4.

Brithdir Mawr community was established in 1994 by Julian and Emma Orbach. For the past 15 years the community has rented the farm building and around 80 acres of pasture and woodland from Julian, who plans to sell it at the beginning of next year.

At present ten adults and seven children live at Brithdir Mawr, living off-grid, farming according to organic principles and working towards sustainability.

The community has been given first refusal but needs to raise £500,000 in order to buy Julian's share of the farm.

The residents, having looked into many different possibilities, have decided the best way forward is to aim to put the land into a community benefit society that will protect the housing and the land indefinitely.

A community share offer, to ensure that the project is truly community owned, will be launched at the end of this month. An information and consultation event, with tea and cake, is being held today (Wednesday). This is running at Newport Memorial Hall from 2-4pm and from 6pm until 9pm.

It is a chance to meet the residents of the community, find out about what they do and their plans for the future as well as a chance to share ideas on how Brithdir Mawr can be relevant and benefit the local community.

"Over the past 25 years we have housed hundreds of people, we have provided volunteer and educational opportunities for thousands of others, we have provided much of the food for these people and we've provided opportunities to earn livelihoods," said a spokesman for the group.

"Over the next 25 years we want Brithdir Mawr to be even more outward looking, we want to be able to use this land to make a positive difference to our society and to the environment in which we live.

"However, to make this possible we need help. We need people to buy shares in our trust, we need people to make a noise about our share offer, and we need help with marketing and making it all happen."

For more information about the share offer, e-mail lea@brithdirmawr.co.uk, visit the Brithdir Mawr Facebook page or website brithdirmawr.co.uk.