Green Man: Ministers bought farm for festival with 'avoidable haste'

The Green Man festival celebrated its 20th year last summer

Welsh ministers acted with "avoidable haste" buying a Powys farm for possible use by the Green Man music festival, the auditor general for Wales has said.

Adrian Crompton said using up unspent money by the end of the financial year was "most significant" in driving decision-making on the £4.25m purchase.

Ministers said the report made clear the acquisition followed "appropriate processes" and was "value for money".

The Conservatives said they had spent millions of pounds on a vanity project.

Plaid Cymru said the Welsh government must "give full account of the reason why they made the purchase before obtaining a full business plan, and somebody must be held accountable".

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Reviewing the purchase, Mr Compton said using up unspent funding by the end of the financial year was "the most significant contributing factor driving the pace of the Welsh government's decision-making process".

Mr Crompton said the speed of the purchase did not "fundamentally undermine that decision's procedural integrity" but in his view the Welsh government would not have bought the farm if it had not been approached by Green Man with "little more than a high-level outline of Green Man's aspirations".

A Welsh government spokesperson said: "It is clear from the review that the acquisition of Gilestone Farm followed the appropriate processes, was value for money and is clearly aligned to our economic ambitions."

Ministers have previously said that buying the farm could help secure the future of the independent music festival, held on the Glan Usk Estate, Crickhowell, in Wales.

'Avoidable financial risk'

In a letter to the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee of the Senedd, Mr Crompton noted that the Welsh government had been in discussion with Green Man about potential sites for some time but he said "with more time the Welsh government could have undertaken greater due diligence before making any decision".

"By buying Gilestone Farm when it did, the Welsh government accepted an avoidable financial risk, albeit one which officials have emphasised to us was, in their view, low and manageable," he says.

"And, in our view, if the Welsh government had concluded its consideration of Green Man's plans before taking any decision about buying or not buying the farm, the Welsh government's external communication of its actions could also then have been clearer."

Green Man has been estimated to contribute £15m to the Welsh economy each year

He also notes that officials "did not keep a record of matters discussed with Green Man in various virtual meetings during its consideration of Green Man's business plan outline and the process leading up to acquisition of Gilestone Farm".

Mr Crompton said that notes of those discussions "would have better supported the audit trail for the Welsh government's decision-making".

He notes that the purchase was supported by an independent professional valuation but that "the Welsh government has accepted financial risks that would not have arisen if it had delayed a final purchase decision until after its full consideration of Green Man's plans, and the suitability of Gilestone Farm for intended future uses, had been concluded".

'Deeply concerning'

Conservative Senedd group leader, Andrew RT Davies, said the review "highlights the latest example of Labour ministers in the Senedd recklessly throwing around millions of pounds of taxpayers' money to fund a new vanity project".

"There is currently an A&E crisis in Wales and the time and money Labour spent on Gilestone Farm should instead have gone towards our Welsh NHS," he said.

Plaid Cymru's agriculture and rural affairs spokesperson Mabon ap Gwynfor said: "It's deeply concerning to see that Welsh government may not be able to recover the full purchase price, and that the speculative purchase of the farm included such financial risks.

"Welsh government must give full account of the reason why they made the purchase before obtaining a full business plan, and somebody must be held accountable for this.

"In addition, they must provide reassurance that they will not make any further decisions to use public money on this site without robust due diligence of the economic benefits, as per Audit Wales recommendations."

'Due diligence work continues'

The Welsh government said it welcomed the review.

"It is clear from the review that the acquisition of Gilestone Farm followed the appropriate processes, was value for money and is clearly aligned to our economic ambitions," the spokesperson said.

"Due diligence work continues on Green Man's detailed and comprehensive business plan which will conclude in the coming weeks. 

"No final decision on the future of Gilestone Farm will be made until the due diligence process is complete."