Apologies for being mostly in English, we’re rushing to get this site up and will be more bilingual.

We’re a group of Welsh and English speaking local people wanting to help nurture and develop the special qualities of Machynlleth and the Dyfi Valley. These have helped it earn a worldwide reputation for its unique welcoming characteristics based on its culture, heritage and environment.

They have helped to earn it the wonderful accolade of being a UNESCO Biosphere site. Find out more at the Dyfi Biosphere/ Biosffer Dyfi web site and the ecodyfi website.

Of pressing concern is the bid by Tescos to open a giant superstore outside the main shopping centre.

Tesco’s propaganda is full of misinformation:

• The proposed development, more than twice the size of the current Co-op, which itself plans to expand, is away from the town centre, where pedestrian access is difficult.
• High street shops will close - most people will park in their car park and do all their shop, not bothering to walk the seven minute walk to the high street.
• As for jobs, employment conditions will be on Tesco’s harsh terms.
• Margins to any local suppliers will be painfully tight.
• Traffic will worsen, especially at peak periods, with acute back-ups.
• Much cash will drain from the local economy to Tesco’s shareholders.
• If the Co-op closes, as it did in Porthmadog, the town will lose an ethical employer which funds many local groups.
• All this for slightly more choice at the counter? We believe it’s better to support the current retailers to improve, and develop more local suppliers, food and services that will REALLY strengthen quality, jobs, our future and our choices.

Most people who think beyond their shopping basket in Machynlleth are NOT in favour of this commercial raid on our town. 

Local people want to help nurture and develop the special qualities of Machynlleth and the Dyfi Valley. These have helped it earn a worldwide reputation for its unique welcoming characteristics based on its culture, heritage and environment. 

There is a clear choice: to support this positive forward-looking trend, which attracts so many visitors here, or give in to the myth of consumer choice whose reality is the death of local distinctiveness and vitality.