PLANS to pump £255,000 into Greenmeadow Community Farm in Cwmbran will be considered by Torfaen’s full council next week.

Greenmeadow Community Farm is a working farm with a café and gift shop. It also provides facilities for school visits, student placements, formal qualifications and outreach and volunteering opportunities.

A report into the proposal for increased investment in Greenmeadow farm has recommended that £240,000 of capital funding be used for high and medium priority maintenance.

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High priority maintenance includes £85,000 on landslip, £50,000 each on accessibility improvements and manure storage and £15,000 on the roof.

The remaining £40,000 would be spent on medium priority maintenance. This includes £30,000 in works to the main building and £10,000 to retain a wall.

An additional £15,000 from revenue reserves is proposed to be spent on small-scale enhancements that are not appropriate to be funded by the capital budget.

A report says that without the capital investment it “will be challenging to maintain current income levels, let alone increase them”.

These income concerns have been ongoing and in 2019/20 the farm needed to save £200,000, which was 66 per cent of the subsidy received.

This resulted in some staffing changes and revised opening hours, which generated £92,000 in savings.

The site has been closed since March 23, and last month the council revealed that the farm will reopen to the public again in February 2021.

The report will be considered by full council on Tuesday, September 15.