INTERNATIONAL STORY AN AERIAL VIEW OF POUNDBURY. CREDIT: DUCHY OF CORNWALL POUNDBURY, DORCHESTER, CREDIT: CG FY & SON. raised his ire. As did the “dreariness and heartlessness” of urban planning. King Charles, it is fair to say, does not care much for modernist design. Neither has he been shy to intervene in planning decisions. In 2009 the then-Prince of Wales was accused by Ruth Reed, RIBA president at the time, of “an abuse of his position” for attempts to block planning decisions, including plans to develop the former Chelsea Barracks in West London. But it’s the foundations laid out in A Vision of Britain that underpin Poundbury to this day. While much of its design ethos looks to the past, Poundbury has also been a demonstration of having amenities within a 15-minute walking distance. The idea of a ‘15-minute city’ has proven controversial in recent months with conspiracy theorists painting the idea as a war on cars or a method to control people’s movements. That’s nonsense, of course. But the issue was on the mind of notoriously green-focused King Charles 30 years ago. “It’s not about denying the existence of cars or containing people within an area, it’s more about giving people choice,” says Murphy. When you live in Poundbury we’re just saying, chances are you don’t need one because we’ve everything you need – offices, retail, restaurants, cafes, a pub, a doctor’s surgery – and it’s all accessible.” However, there is something of a catch for residents – the Duchy’s hand is never far away. If you want to live in Poundbury you are subject to certain rules designed to keep it beautiful. Want to take your rubbish out to be collected? It has to go out the back of your home, not the front. Want to paint your front door a different color? You’d best ask the Duchy for permission and, even then, you’ll only have a choice of a few approved colors. Want to swap the wooden window frames for PVC? No chance. “You have to be careful that it’s not going to be an issue for you and if you think it will be, then maybe it’s not going to be the right place for you,” says Ha. “There are people who come here because they want that uniformity. They want ARCHITECT LEON KRIER’S ORIGINAL POUNDBURY PLANS (1988) certain rules in place, and they’ve been in places where they didn’t have them and they were frustrated.” But what can other areas of the UK learn from Poundbury? Murphy says that building quality homes even if it means a wait for profit is fundamental to an area’s success. Perhaps that’s easier for an operation with the resources of the Duchy of Cornwall than it is for a major housebuilder with shareholders to answer to. But, then again, perhaps not. “It’s totally scalable. I mean, it’s really just taking the lessons of the past about what we know and love about our historic towns and cities, what makes a successful place,” says Murphy. “It’s not really been a model followed by the volume house builders in the UK because they’re just not set up as businesses to deliver a mix of uses and they’re looking at a much shorter return on investments on an annual or even quarterly basis. “Whether it be a local authority or a developer, if they are more patient about their capital return, they will reap greater dividends. We are a land and property business, it’s not a charitable endeavor, but I think His Majesty absolutely understood that if you build quality and deliver local needs it will create value and commercial success. You’ve just got to have the stomach for it. You’ve got to be a bit more patient about those returns.” The Duchy of Cornwall is trying to demonstrate Poundbury’s scalability firsthand with another planned community in Nansledan on the outskirts of Newquay in Cornwall. Dubbed “Poundbury’s big brother” by Murphy, 630 homes have currently been built in the development over the past five years and it is projected to be completed in around 2045, offering 4,000 homes and 4,000 jobs. Murphy says it is an attempt to deal with Cornwall’s welldocumented shortage of affordable housing. “We’re very much bolstering the town of Newquay and making sure that we remain part of the solution when it comes to the housing crisis,” he adds. For Ha, it’s clear what other places could learn: “For me, it’s building beautifully. I think there are too many places that aren’t built with beauty in mind. They’re built with profit in mind. “I think Poundbury has a lot of thought that has gone into the architecture, how it looks, and how it feels for people. If people are happy in a place, they’re going to want to do more to support their community.” In this sense, King Charles’s vision for Britain has already had a big impact on housing policy. Housing Secretary Michael Gove said last year that “people do not want ugliness imposed on them” and vowed to step in to block ugly housing developments. Last month he did just that, blocking a plan for 164 homes in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the Crane Valley, near Tunbridge Wells, citing the “generic” look of the designs. Perhaps the dream of building beautiful homes is the clearest sign of all that King Charles’s vision for Britain and strong views on housing are alive and well outside Poundbury. It might not solve the housing crisis, but it will make a street party more pleasant at least. ■ Courtesy of the International Network of Street Papers / The Big Issue UK bigissue.com @BigIssue June 2023 DENVER VOICE 7
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