New Rural Roots CIC is working to repopulate the Welsh countryside with resilient, low-impact communities rooted in ecological living. Using the Welsh Government’s One Planet Development (OPD) policy, we promote an alternative to the extractive consumption based economic system—helping people build land-based livelihoods that restore biodiversity, grow food locally, and reduce dependence on global supply chains.

Our short-term goal is to purchase 20–100 acres in Monmouthshire to establish our first OPD cluster, while providing advocacy services for OPD groups in other parts of Wales wishing to contact landowners under the New Rural Roots umbrella. Long-term, we aim to buy land at scale and subdivide it into affordable freehold plots, achieving economies of scale while lowering barriers for those without access to capital. Depending on the success of our fundraising campaign, we also plan to offer planning support and secure OPD permission before selling plots, reducing financial risk and unlocking access to mortgage products for prospective members.

By helping people live and work on the land, we’re sowing the seeds of a new rural economy—one that is lived in, not just looked at.