POPULAR TV presenter Kate Humble and her husband would be part owners of a Wyeside 'River Cottage' style food and farming centre if plans before Monmouthshire council come to fruition.

And Kate has told the Review she is looking forward to getting her hands dirty working the land if it all comes off.

Monmouthshire cabinet members will meet next week to discuss the couple's plan to turn a local farm into a UK centre of excellence for rural skills. 

It involves an innovative joint venture under which the authority, which currently owns the land, would retain a 30 per cent interest in the holding as an investment.

Kate has become well known for her programmes on farming, wildlife and rural affairs, and has lived with her BAFTA-winning TV producer husband Ludo Graham at Penterry, above Tintern, for the past four years. They plan to sink £500,000 into the venture.

Officers are recommending approval for the couple's proposal to acquire Meend Farm near Penallt to create a high-profile centre offering courses in sustainable farming skills, rural crafts and wildlife conservation. It would also become a flagship for renewable energy.

The new centre would occupy a relatively small portion of the 118-acre Meend farm, which, under the proposal, would continue to run as a working farm with a local faming family in charge.

"There are currently no plans for a television series based on our farm venture. Although it's possible that there may be some filming in the future, we're absolutely not doing this for TV," Kate told the Review.

"We're doing this because we firmly believe in the importance of rural skills and local food production in Monmouthshire, a beautiful county that already has an outstanding reputation for both farming and food.

"If our plans are approved, I'll be at the farm getting my hands dirty and working with the animals every chance I get."