The ‘whites only’ enclave in the heart of rural Wales: Far-right group inspired by remote town in America’s Ozarks build their own racially segregated community

Activists accused of trying to create an American-style ‘whites-only’ community in rural Wales are facing a local council after building in woodland without planning permission.

The Woodlander Initiative (TWI), led by veteran fascist Simon Birkett, has raised £235,000 of its £1 million target to buy land in every county in Britain.

This appears to be an attempt to create a UK version of the American Return to the Land (RTTL) movement, which established a white separatist enclave in Arkansas. with the aim of segregating society again.

RTTL founder Eric Orwoll said his organization was allied with TWI, which had built two log cabins on land it bought from a farmer in the Powys village of Llanafan Fawr.

Mr Birkett’s group rejected claims that it was trying to create a whites-only enclave on two tracts of land, claiming anyone could visit, camp and help with construction.

But they face the risk of a dispute with Powys Council after officials confirmed no application had been made to build on the five-acre site, which is split between a steep field and a heavily wooded area.

TWI also failed to apply for a switch from agriculture to leisure or tourism, potentially causing them to breach planning regulations.

A local farmer told the Daily Mail: ‘Building materials arrive regularly and there are three or four men working there.

They risk a run-in with Powys Council after the authority confirmed no applications had been made to build on the five-acre site

The Woodland Initiative (TWI) is led by former BNP and National Front member Simon Birkett. Seen speaking at the Patriotic Alternative annual conference in 2024

‘They haven’t upset anyone so far, but like everyone else they are subject to planning laws here which are quite strict. ‘If I had opened a caravan or camping area, the municipality would have knocked on my door immediately.’

No formal complaints have been made to Powys Council but locals are concerned about their new neighbour’s political background and ambitions.

A Powys Council spokesman said: ‘Our planning department has confirmed we have no recent planning history for the site.

‘Also, we have not received any official complaints to date regarding the structures mentioned in the email below.

‘The Development Management team will investigate the concerns raised and take appropriate action identified through this process.’

TWI claims to be not a political organisation, but is supported by Patriotic Alternative, Britain’s largest neo-Nazi group.

Plaid Cymru, which runs a minority administration in the Senedd, said fascists were not welcome in Wales.

Locals in Llanafan Fawr (pop. 470) cannot understand why the group has chosen their village, pointing out that Powys is already a largely ‘whites-only’ county.

The workers who built the cabins and a small number of visitors who attended an open day last September were all confirmed to be white.

Both structures, visible from a stony road, are unfinished and no work was being done when the Mail visited last week.

TWI claims not to be a political organization but is backed by Patriotic Alternative, Britain’s largest neo-Nazi group

A sign on the Powys site warning people of ‘trespassing’. Refers to ‘federal authorities’ not located in the UK.

Powys Council confirms it has not received any planning applications for the site

One appears to be a lounge or meeting room for visitors, while the other is more of a lookout point perched in the trees and overlooking the road, the only access route to the site.

There are several large tents and a wooden latrine set up around the steep and overgrown area.

Local residents have raised concerns that none of the structures appear strong enough to withstand the wind and rain of a typical Welsh winter.

The Woodlander Initiative states that there is no mention of color or ethnicity in its membership criteria and that it is a non-political organization that aims to ‘build community, friendship, skill and fraternity’ in its constitution.

One of the builders, who gave his name as Russ, had said on an earlier visit that everyone was welcome. He gave the example of an Iranian man who was given permission to use some of the group’s land in Wales.

The builder referred journalists to TWI’s website, which describes the organization as a British organization working to improve the future of British people and protect their freedom.

He describes the British people as ‘a distinct group of the following’. [sic] ‘English, Welsh, Scots and Irish’.

But the group is sending mixed messages to anyone straggling along the way to the entrance gate.

A wooden sign 10 meters from the gate reads Welcome to the Jungle, but the gate itself reads: ‘Warning of unseen deep excavations. ‘Forest regeneration, absolutely no entry’.

And a laminated A4 sheet reads ‘No Trespassing’, threatening a £100,000 fine to anyone trespassing on Woodlander Enterprise land.

The statement makes reference to ‘federal authorities’, although the UK does not have a federal system. This seems to provide further evidence of TWI’s American influence.

One of the tents set up in a five-acre rural area

Woodlander Initiative threatens £100,000 fine for anyone trespassing on its land

Their closest neighbour, 80-year-old sheep farmer John Weedon, said he had had no problems since Enterprise took over the land next door.

He said: ‘I know all about their reputation but they haven’t done anything to me. They look good.

‘I’ve seen the signs they put up, but if you stake your claim on something, you have to protect it.’

TWI leader Simon Birkett is a former member of the BNP and the National Front. He spoke at the Patriotic Alternative annual conference in 2024.

In an article written to TWI members, Birkett touched on conspiracy theories, including the ‘Great Change’, and said the group was part of attempts to ‘create an elite group, a vanguard and an alternative group that will actively do what is best for us’.

Patriot Alternative leader Mark Collett (a former British National Party official) has repeatedly defended the land-buying plan, and his activists have camped out on TWI land in Wales.

Writing in the neo-Nazi magazine Heritage and Destiny, Mr Collett described the TWI as ‘a spectacular initiative that allowed nationalists to pool their money to buy land and property’.

‘This is a long-term plan that will hopefully catch on and translate into the establishment of indigenous centres; ‘Places for our people,’ he wrote.

Dr D., a senior research fellow at Anglia Ruskin University and an expert on the British far right. William Allchorn has previously described how buying land is part of a wider strategy for fascist groups.

‘This is the idea of ​​creating a separate white center or parallel society where white people can be completely off the grid,’ he said.

‘This is worrying because although these camps seem quite harmless, they involve things like paramilitary training or martial arts training.’

There was no construction work going on in the area visited by the Daily Mail last week.

Locals from the village of Llanafan Fawr (pop. 470) point out that Powys is already a largely ‘whites-only’ county.

Dr Allchorn said TWI appeared to be “quite advanced” and it was worrying that it drew parallels with groups in the US, East Germany and South Africa, where “neo-Nazis are buying up land to create white-only towns or communities living in the style of the Nazi past”.

He said British far-right groups had previously ‘flirted’ about buying land but were largely focused on engaging in electoral politics, but their focus had changed since the pandemic.

“They see this as an important moment,” Dr Allchorn said. ‘If they can find land or find a place to build this enclave, it fits right in with the broader ideological vision of the erasure and exclusion of minorities and immigrants that all far-right groups are aiming for.’