Machynlleth could be getting a community sauna site complete with plunge pools if the town council approves a new business proposal.
The town council is "considering" the plans that were pitched last night (29 January) at the all-town council meeting by local entrepreneurs Rob Key, Nick Broster, and Giulio Mescia.
The team is hoping to build a community sauna business to "bring people together who wouldn't ordinarily meet" whilst giving accessible health benefits of cold water plunges and sauna bathing.
Sawna Dyfi, as it would be called, would be erected as a low-cost site on disused council land, with three areas suggested to be used across unutilised car parking and green space land.
The council is to consider the plans and take a position on the matter at the next town council meeting on 26 February.
At the meeting on Monday 29, Nick and Rob said: "We'd like to create a community sauna space to promote wellbeing and community interactions.
"We're hoping it will also be a space in which people can hold occasional events such as music evenings, meditation, art sessions, birthdays, and yoga classes. Making it affordable is important for us, so we are considering a sliding-scale payment system with free sessions for NHS staff and discounts for social prescribers.
"We want to ensure it's easy to get to by being in walking distance of the majority of the town by basing it on council-owned land by Y Plas for instance, and are in the process of getting feedback with an online survey to ensure we are creating something the community wants."
Currently, the nearest sauna facilities are in Plas Talgarth Spa 4.5 miles northwest of the town, and not accessible by foot.
The Sawna Dyfi team hopes to initially open three times a week, to increase as interest does. They will be creating a Community Interest Company (CIC) and hoping to fund the start-up through external funding, with a view to open the site in summer at the earliest if the council and funding applications are successful.
The site would include two trailer saunas, three plunge barrels, light-duty changing rooms, showers, and a refreshment stall.
Councillors' main concerns were around the security of any potential site, costs associated with moving items if a site was chosen and the allocation of a site, as councillor Ann MacGarry stated "none of the spaces suggested are completely disused".
She added: "A sauna fills something that doesn't exist in Machynlleth. However refreshments and events- there are plenty of cafes and venues that provide this in the town already and we don't want to increase competition for those."
Whilst Councillor Kim Bryan spoke in favour of the plan: "As a regular sauna user the idea of something that is accessible for the town is brilliant.
"To not have refreshments at a sauna site would be dangerous due to the health risks associated with heat and cold exposure. It would also encourage tourists and touring cyclists to stop in the town, so may benefit other businesses indirectly too."
Councillor Norma McCarten said using one of the council sites suggested by Sawna Dyfi would make a "great improvement" to the space around Y Plas.
To have your say about what you'd like a Machynlleth community sauna to look like, fill in the online survey here- https://tiy2b0r8gc3.typeform.com/to/F89gpwXQ