Could Newtown be twinned with a second town?

Could Newtown be twinned with a second town?

Town councillors will tonight (Monday) consider a request for Newtown to be twinned with New Harmony in the United States. The town is where Robert Owen, the social reformer who was born and died in Newtown, headed to in April 2025.

He purchased the town and 20,000 acres of land with the aim of creating a utopian community based on his socialist views.

Ata recent talk to councillors by Heritage Hib for Mid Wales, the idea was put forward to twin the town with New Harmony.

Newtown is already twinned with Les Herbiers in France.

A report to the town council states: "A similar suggestion was put to Strategy & Corporate Projects Committee (SCPC) in December 2023 where a member of the public addressed the committee on the legacy of Robert Owen and made a request that Town Council considers twinning Newtown with New Harmony (2025 marking the 200th anniversary of Robert Owen’s departure to New Harmony), although at that time the committee focussed on the local 250th anniversary of his birth."

The report sets out what a twinning is and what the tow council's legal and other involvement can be.

"Ideally twinning should be a partnership between the local council and community, and have community backing. The local council could help set up the relationship, hold central information, stimulate local interest and assist/ enable local people, groups and organisations to contact their counterparts so they may develop and arrange their own exchanges.

"Local councils, their representatives and staff can also learn much from each other about local government administration and services, to their mutual advantage."

Town councillors will be asked to consider the report and whether to provide moral support to HH4MW, consider a twinning agreement in the future, or just note the report.