INTERNATIONAL STORY QUEEN MOTHER SQUARE. CREDIT: DUCHY OF CORNWALL POUNDBURY: HOW DOES THE KING’S VISION STACK UP IN A HOUSING CRISIS? BY LIAM GERAGHTY POUNDBURY IS KING CHARLES’S PET PROJECT. Located on Duchy of Cornwall land just west of Dorchester in Dorset, the monarch has spent more than three decades carving out his vision of what Britain should look like across its 400 acres. A model village designed to show how building development can enhance the English countryside, to “break the mold of conventional housing development”, as the King put it, he has been overseeing Poundbury’s development since 1993. Originally laid out by architect Léon Krier, the project is due to be completed in 2027, with 2,700 homes built, meaning one for every job in the area. To some detractors, Poundbury is a sort of “feudal Disneyland”, a prince’s plaything existing outside the realms of reality. But Poundbury’s unique royal origins make it a place of intrigue and curiosity in the context of the longrunning housing crisis. Françoise Ha is one of around 4,500 people living there and is chair of the Poundbury Residents Association. “It’s interesting seeing which countries are interested,” says Ha. “Certain countries like France are very interested, Canada, the Dutch, and America, as well. “I don’t think people are particularly royalist or republican here. I think we’re here because it’s a beautiful place to live and the vision that he’s made is quite different from other places. “Poundbury is an interesting idea. It’s been like Marmite 6 DENVER VOICE June 2023 before because it was green fields, but I think it’s good at what it’s trying to do.” What Poundbury is trying to do is be more than the sole preserve of the rich. Sure, take a cursory browse on Rightmove and you’ll see the first-floor apartment overlooking Queen Mother Square on the market for a cool £1.25 million. But a couple of pages later there are sub-£200k flats, with some available for shared ownership. One of the principles behind Poundbury is a mix of affordable homes alongside less affordable properties, and 35% of the homes being built are affordable housing for rent, shared ownership, or discounted sales. The Duchy also has a Discount to Open Market scheme running in Poundbury, which allows first-time buyers to purchase properties at a 25-30% discount which is then passed on to the next owner. There is a mix in the styles of houses on offer too. Take a walk around Poundbury and King Charles’s beloved classical architectural style is on show alongside country cottages built to echo the local area, mixed in with Italian villa-inspired homes. The mix attracts a similarly varied populace of people. This is key to Poundbury’s success and is one of the areas where it has been able to innovate, says Ben Murphy, the Duchy of Cornwall’s estate’s director. “To look back, it’s quite shocking to think now that Poundbury was the first place that integrated affordable housing with market housing. That has influenced national planning policy,” says Murphy. “Developers would think, ‘Oh no, it will detract from the value of private homes’; perhaps there was a stigma and I think it’s been proven to be untrue and incorrect. “All the places that really work well, that have a strong social cohesion, are diverse. It brings vibrancy and vitality to a place, and I think it benefits the community at large by having a well-balanced mix of tenures and people from all walks of life. I’m very proud that we delivered 35% affordable housing but when they’re not just integrated but indistinguishable, I don’t think you can really underestimate how important that is.” Ha has lived in Poundbury for five years after making the move from Exeter. She has yet to bump into King Charles while walking around town but says “he likes to know what’s going on”. But she agrees that variety is the spice of life in Poundbury. “It’s a very cosmopolitan place, compared to other places,” says Ha. “You’ve got people from Northampton, from Scotland, you’ve got people from all around that are coming here to retire or because they just think it’s a nice place to be for families as well. I think there is a difference between perception and reality here. It’s supposed to be a place where people of all generations can live together.” King Charles has never been shy about chiming in with his thoughts on architecture. He famously raised eyebrows when he described an expansion to the National Gallery as a “monstrous carbuncle” while addressing the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in 1984. Four years later he wrote and presented his first documentary, A Vision of Britain, showcasing his housing ideas for the future to millions watching on the BBC. In a book of the same name that was published the following year, the future king says he was moved to share his thoughts after seeing the “wanton destruction which has taken place in the name of progress”. “The sheer, unadulterated ugliness and mediocrity of public and commercial buildings, and housing estates”
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