The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

King Charles III and his model village in Poundbury: Welcome to Charlieville

2022-09-25T14:34:48.436Z


Rustic, sustainable and with almost no traffic signs: Great Britain's new king is realizing his vision of country life in the small town of Poundbury in southern England - not without pitfalls. A tour of Charles' flagship village.


AreaRead the video transcript expand here

A traditional village center in the style of the Dorchester region of southern England.

At least at first glance, because in reality it's "just" a modern copy of it. Since 1993, the longtime Prince and now King Charles has had the model town of Poundbury built in South West England - a whole new town, his version of the cultivated life in the country. Until his coronation, as Duke of Cornwall, Charles also owned the leased land on which the settlement is being built, so he was in charge here.

Fran Leaper, editor of Poundbury Magazine: 'If the then Prince Charles wanted something - and he's not used to people saying no - he wanted it that way, he got it.

Every building here was checked at the planning stage by Charles.

He put the red pencil on before the city council was allowed to give the final permit.

And even after that he was still able to change something.«

The former prince and current king always had the last word and that should remain visible.

Royal symbols are everywhere here: from the Queen's 80th birthday memorial stone to the crest on electric car charging stations.

With the retro look Charles III.

deliberately create an alternative to the typical architecture of uniform suburbs.

His second ambition is to make Poundbury a climate-friendly village where residents can walk or cycle anywhere in 10 minutes.

However, the idea has not caught on with the residents so far.

There are cars on almost every corner.

And Poundbury has a traffic problem for other reasons.

Richard Biggs, Dorchester Councilor: 'This junction doesn't work, it's not thought through.

It's supposed to be a roundabout, but it's not.

Cars and trucks can collide, especially at night.

The Duchy argues this: Because drivers are confused, they drive more slowly.

Okay, you can see that here too.

But it just causes confusion and calls for at least minimal signage.”

But the duchy doesn't want to know anything about that, just as little as about zebra crossings or traffic lights.

The only road signs in the whole town are in the middle of the central square.

The extensive abandonment of conventional traffic control has serious consequences: there has already been a fatal accident at another intersection.

Since then there has been criticism: Charles put the pretty facade above road safety.

City councilor Biggs now wants to convince the duchy to turn the whole place into a 20 km/h zone.

But such negotiations between elected representatives of the people and the monarchy are often tough.

Fran Leaper, editor of the village magazine: »This is where we usually meet, Charles was here at least twice a year.

But now there is hardly any exchange.

The way they planned it, everything will only be built on the outskirts of the village.

So you don't have to agree with any local residents.

Only with the city council.«

The model village has its contradictions, also in terms of sustainability.

Solar cells, for example, are only allowed on roofs if they cannot be seen from the street.

Chimneys, on the other hand, are often only used for the traditional facade, they are not used.

Nevertheless, the demand for houses in Poundbury is high, the place is growing and by 2025 it should be home to almost 6000 people.

Pensioners from London move here, families from surrounding villages in the region.

That wasn't always the case, especially the neighboring town of Dorchester, which had a problem with Charles' pet project.

Richard Biggs, Dorchester Councilor: '30 years ago there was a lot of opposition to Prince Charles in Dorchester.

Residents feared he would try to impose his Charlieville on them.

I haven't heard that nickname in a long time.

This is probably the answer: a wonderful facility for everyone.

Young and old, poor and rich mix here, there are many community events.«

Both places are now growing together on the large field on the outskirts.

And yet Poundbury remains controversial, the influence of the powerful British royal family can be both a curse and a blessing in everyday life.

Whether the balance between monarchy and elected representatives of the people will work in the future is no longer determined by Charles, but by his son, Prince William: As the new Duke of Cornwall, he is also the new landowner here.

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2022-09-25

You may like

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.