This Side of the Pond

Nestled on the western border of Dorset is a place I’ve only just discovered. Somehow, I’ve gone decades without realizing that a town of almost 5000 people – with all the associated amenities – exists just a short drive from my own home town.

Obviously this came as a surprise and caused some deep reflection on my observation skills, but then it turned out that Poundbury’s skill at playing hide-and-seek is not the most interesting thing about it. The more I delved into its history, the more impressed I am with its very existence.

Poundbury, you see, is an experimental community, and this is the first of two fascinating facts about the little town – just you wait until I get to the second one.

It was developed using new principles of architecture and urban planning as described in a book called “A Vision of Britain”. It was meant to be a move away from the trends of last century, which saw housing estates stand isolated from each other and shopping spots located far away from where everybody worked and played – which, in turn, meant you had to have a car to get anything done at all.

Poundbury wanted to be different. Its creator wanted it to be a place where everyone had a local job and lived in a walkable community, with the priority being on people rather than cars.

To achieve this, the town was designed from the start to embody four principles, the first of which was “architecture of place”, a fancypants term for creating local character and its own identity.

Not everyone agrees that this was successful – one resident described it as “a lot like Marmite”. This saying will mean nothing to you, so let me explain: Marmite is a yeast-based sandwich spread with a kick, and it’s a polarizing flavor that’s not something you can really just think is “ok”.

Marmite capitalized on this fact in its advertising, acknowledging that just as many people consider it revolting as would argue it’s delicious. “Marmite,” the slogan goes. “You either love it or you hate it.”

Some residents don’t think Poundbury has much in the way of a soul, while other complain about all the rules and regulations that aim to keep the vision pure. Apparently, you can’t put in additional fencing or remove any trees or shrubs – you can’t even change the color of your front door without permission.

Still, it seems to have worked, because the town has its own unique and consolidated design and is locally renowned for its architecture.

The second principle is pretty clever: integrated affordable housing. Rather than creating suburbs for those in need of subsidized homes, they are “pepper-potted” through the town.

Around a third of the residences available are in the category of affordable housing, and the rest are private. You can’t tell whose is whose, said one resident, and that’s the point – everyone, regardless of circumstance, is equally placed in the community.

The third principle, as previously mentioned, is that the community needs to be walkable. This might have been more successful had the garages been big enough to hold a standard-sized car, but in general you can get to all the places you need on foot – even if it’s sometimes a little harrowing when crossing the road in the “shared space” areas where road markings and signs have been removed to bring all the types of road user together.

The final principle is “mix of uses”, integrating homes, retail, employment and public areas in a way that makes sense for the people who live there. This has again only been partially successful, according to reports, with two of the three factories half empty. Still, the project isn’t finished yet, so they have time to fix some flaws.

Poundbury is also intended to be sustainable, because its creator is interested in the idea of conservation and creating communities that can stand on their own two feet. There’s a community orchard where you can volunteer to maintain the apple trees, which sounds lovely, even if part of your duties involves taking care of geese. Not to be prejudiced, but those things are mean.

Then there’s Rainbarrow Farm, the first full-scale anaerobic digester and biomethane-to-grid plant in the UK, which uses the methane gas from crops to heat not just Poundbury, but also 90,000 other homes in Dorset. That’s pretty cool, and I’m sure there’s a few people eyeing the real estate listings there when you consider the exorbitant prices for electricity and gas right now in the UK.

So there you have it, a brief guide to the sights and sounds of Poundbury that explain the first of my two fascinating facts about it. Which brings me to the second.

I’ve mentioned Poundbury’s creator, and the identity of this person is what I’ve been holding back for my big reveal. The design of this little community began with none other than…King Charles.

He was the author of “A Vision of Britain”, and because he was determined to see his ideas in action, he jumped at the chance to work with West Dorset District Council to expand the town of Dorchester. He appointed an urban planner back in 1987 to create an overall concept with the challenge of designing an autonomous extension to the town using the principles he described.

Poundbury is still under construction even now, and things have been going pretty well. By the time the whole thing is finished in 2025, it will have increased the population of Dorchester by about a quarter.

Naturally, there was a lot of skepticism about the project and the usual poo-pooing from people who felt things were perfectly fine the way they were. In typical Charles style, he paid no attention whatsoever, and there’s a few thousand people who seem glad he did.

“Everybody was against it, and in the end I was determined to stick to my guns,” he said. “I got on regardless of the endless criticism...because I’ve always believed in the long-term.”

So there you have it: an idea that would be ahead of its time even now, and it was dreamed up by a king. I guess the monarchy isn’t all that far behind the times, after all.