PLANS are under way to make an eco-friendly learning centre Greenmeadow Community Farm, Cwmbran.

The farm, which attracts around 50,000 visitors a year, could use the centre to teach them about the benefits of sustainable living and how to do their bit to help the environment.

The centre would be made of wood, using renewable energy, LED lighting and rainwater harvesting to collect water from the roofs.

The proposal comes in a response to a Welsh Government policy called Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship.

The farm, which already carries out some sustainable development activities such as seed collecting and leaf trails with schools, is being encouraged to do more.

Other proposals due to be discussed in a report to Torfaen council's learning communities overview and scrutiny committee include plans that would help the farm become reduce the amount of energy it uses by improving the insulation in all the buildings to minimise heat loss and replace current boilers with more efficient ones.

The amount of petrol and diesel used by the farm could also be reduced by making bio-fuel from the farm's kitchen oil, using an electric vehicle to replace the current petrol one and encouraging people to visit by bicycle or on foot with safe places to look up bicycles and offering a discount on their entry fee.

Renewable energy sources could also be installed such as photo-voltaic panels on roofs, wind turbines and an anaerobic digester to convert food and organic waste into methane for cooking.

Water could be used in a more sustainable way through a composting toilet and low water flush toilets, more trees could be planted and the honey bee population could be built up to help pollination and supply honey to go on sale in the shop.

The committee will discuss the proposals at a meeting on Wednesday.