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Lake Vyrnwy estate sale: Public meeting to be held

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Vyrnwy Dam
Image caption,

Land around the lake is being sold in four lots

A public meeting is to be held on Monday night to discuss the sale of the Lake Vyrnwy estate in Powys.

Last week the utilities firm Severn Trent announced it had chosen its preferred bidder for the 23,000 acre (93 sq km) site.

However it would not comment on claims it was selling the lake, which is valued at £11m, to United Utilities.

Selling agents for the property have described it as the largest land sale in living memory in England and Wales.

Dafydd Elis-Thomas, a senior member of the Welsh assembly, has called for an inquiry into the sale of the estate, near the village of Llanwddyn in Montgomeryshire.

Lord Elis-Thomas, chair of the assembly's environment and sustainablity committee, said there was "substantial public interest" in the matter.

United Utilities provides water and waste water services to nearly 7m people in the north west of England, supplying 3.2m households and more than 400,000 business premises.

Bids were submitted for the beauty spot last year. The only known bidders were north Wales businessman Rhys Jones, and the RSPB and Mid Wales Housing.

The estate, with a 125-year lease, has a conservation area, nature reserve, sites of special scientific interest and several farms.

The meeting meeting at the community centre in Abertridwr, at 19:00 BST, will be the eighth public meeting to have been held over the past year about the sale of the estate.

Powys county councillor Simon Baynes, who represents Llanwddyn, said it was not known whether United Utilities would attend the event.

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