News
HRH visits Poundbury and opens a new fire station
24th March 2009
The Prince of Wales visited Poundbury today and opened a new fire station for the urban extension of Dorchester which he helped to create.The Prince also led a tour of invited guests around Poundbury, which is built on Duchy of Cornwall land to The Prince’s own architectural principles.
The Prince escorted guests from Indonesia and Jordan, including Sheikha Fadyah Saad al-Sabah, around Poundbury in Dorset.
His Royal Highness regularly shows guests around the extension to Dorchester as an example of building well-planned communities.
The Prince told about 100 guests that he developed Poundbury as a place he himself would like to live.
He told them: "I'm afraid I believe firmly and fundamentally in do to others as you would have them do to you.
"A lot of architects live in lovely old parts of our existing towns and cities.
"It's always interesting to see where people live so why is it we can't do the same for people who haven't really got all the resources."
Construction began in Poundbury in 1993 and is expected to be complete by 2025 when it will house about 5,000 people with 2,000 jobs in the factories, offices and shops.
The Prince spoke about starting Poundbury, which integrates houses for those with lower incomes rather then segregating them, and said: "What we were doing in those days was completely and utterly unusual."
He described having dinner at Highgrove with builders who thought his ideal of mixing affordable and private housing was unworkable.
"I was explaining what I wanted to do, how you could have affordable housing mixed with other housing.
"They all drank my drink and ate my food and said 'but Your Royal Highness in the real world we couldn't possible sell houses next to these people.'
"So I thought I would go and do it. Thank goodness I was able to.
Poundbury was conceived by The Prince based upon the ideas expounded in his 1989 book A Vision Of Britain.
Aimed at creating a greater sense of community, Poundbury favours the pedestrian over the car, with narrow winding streets to control traffic in a natural way.
Shops, offices and housing are built next to each other and everything is designed to be within walking distance.
The Prince said he wanted Poundbury to be both environmentally and commercially sustainable.
He mentioned that, as in his own home at Highgrove, he was keen to encourage native wildlife by providing habitats for them to thrive.
He said: "I also wanted to ensure that, when we built all this, we actually think about the swallows and the swifts and the house martins."
He joked: "Because the moment house martins and swallows disappear, I'm off, I'm going to take a pill!"
According to UN figures, urban population will grow by 2.2 billion, with 60 per cent of the world's population living in cities by 2030.
The Prince warned against "uncontrolled development" brought about by these pressures and mentioned the importance of good design.
He said: "It seems to me, beauty is crucial to our health and well-being at the end of the day."
After leading the guest on a walking tour around Poundbury, The Prince then officially opened the new Dorset Fire and Rescue headquarters at Dorchester Fire Station.
The Prince toured the Fire Station and met young people who have been participating in a programme run by The Prince’s Trust and Dorset Fire and Rescue Service.
Dorset Fire and Rescue Service (DFRS) is run by the Dorset Fire Authority and has a total of 26 fire stations.
DFRS has been working with The Prince’s Trust since 1997 as the delivery partner for The Trust’s ‘Team Programme’ for the County of Dorset.
The programme is a unique 12-week personal development course which, through a process of team building activities, outdoor pursuits, community projects and work placements, helps to raise self-esteem, build confidence and develop personal skills.
Ten teams in total are run every year with up to 15 places available for unemployed and employed volunteers.
To learn more about Poundbury, play the video below: