A quiet corner of rural Wales has become the unlikely focus of national attention following the revelation that Simon Birkett, founder of The Woodlander Initiative (TWI), has purchased land near Llanfan Fawr to establish what he describes as the first of several “family camps”[…]
Simon John Birkett, also known online as “Woodlander,” is a self-described traditionalist and advocate of off-grid living[…]Lives in a hand-built log cabin and runs a small tattoo studio

Birkett has a history of involvement with far-right politics, including past associations with the British National Party and the National Front. In 2023, he registered The Woodlander Initiative Ltd[…]
Despite distancing TWI from party politics, Birkett has encouraged followers to infiltrate political movements like Reform UK to spread what he calls “ethnopluralist” ideas. His writings and videos suggest a desire to build self-sustaining communities made up exclusively of white families, citing inspiration from places like Orania in South Africa and white separatist settlements in the Ozarks[…]
TWI frames itself as a land-buying initiative aimed at helping people reconnect with nature, live sustainably, and raise children outside what Birkett calls the "degeneracy" of modern society[…]
Supporters argue that the initiative is about self-sufficiency and cultural preservation[…]
Critics, however, argue that the initiative goes far beyond rustic escapism. Research by anti-extremist group Hope Not Hate and independent media outlet Nation.Cymru has linked TWI to fascist movements, accusing it of using land as a tool for building parallel, racially exclusive societies. They highlight Birkett’s repeated admiration for explicitly white-only settlements and his calls to build a “homogenous future”[…]
Legally, TWI has the right to purchase land, and there are no UK laws explicitly prohibiting communities from organising around cultural or even racial preferences, as long as they do not incite hate or violence