Outcry at King’s plan to build ‘ideal town’ in Kent

The Duchy of Cornwall has been accused of “swallowing up historic villages into one urban mass” with its proposal to build 2,500 homes in a medieval market town.

The plan is “totally at odds” with the King’s stance on environmental and farming issues, residents have warned in Faversham, Kent, where it is proposed the estate will be built on 320 acres of agricultural land.

The Duchy has argued that its plans, created when the King, then the Prince of Wales, owned the estate, followed his vision to deliver the “most sustainable” homes possible, while also addressing a housing crisis in the area.

However, local residents voiced strong opposition to the proposals as they were put out to public consultation, warning that such a vast development was not aligned with the royal’s purported care for the environment and green spaces.

Faversham, which is about 10 miles from Canterbury, has a population of just 20,000.

It sits between farmland and nature reserves, but several residents have warned that the scale of the Duchy’s plans would overshadow the existing town while increasing traffic congestion and pollution.

Among the many objections lodged with Swale Borough Council last week was one from Richard Winnett, who said: “The Duchy proposes such a development with the consequential loss of a huge area of fine productive agricultural land.

“This seems totally at odds with HRH’s public stance on environmental and farming issues.”

Sarah Vomley wrote: “I always thought the Duchy cared about the environment and green spaces, seems I was wrong. They also can’t (or won’t) maintain the houses they already have.”

She said she “strongly” objected to the plan, warning that there would soon be “no agricultural land left” and that the town did not have the infrastructure to support such a development. “We can’t get dentist or doctors appointments as it is now,” she observed.

On a Facebook campaign group, resident Angela Penrose wrote: “It seems there’s no end to the greed of Prince William and King Charles!! It’s a disgrace that they pose as environmentalists when in fact they’re like all developers and it’s purely about the money! And what about food security?? All this Grade 1 and 2 farmland being concreted over.”

James Addicott added: “My family are very proud 3rd-generation Duchy farmers and they feel ashamed and betrayed. No honour, just greed. We were hoping the Royals were maybe oblivious to it all, with good intentions, but it’s all a gloss.”

The plot, to the south-east of Faversham, was acquired by the Duchy in 1999. Plans for a “garden community” were first proposed in 2018 in response to a call to landowners for potential housing sites.

A masterplan was submitted last December, seeking consent for an initial 261 homes on the site, as well as a local centre with shops along with community and business spaces.

The Duchy is determined to deliver “the next Poundbury and Nansledan” according to documents submitted to Swale borough council.

Poundbury, in Dorset, was the Duchy’s first “urban extension” and the first to represent the King’s “ideal town”, with 2,000 homes built from 1993.

Its design was based on the principles of architecture and urban planning outlined by Prince Charles, as he was then, in his book, A Vision of Britain, published in 1989, that stressed the need to preserve the unique character of towns and cities.

Poundbury has since been hailed a triumph, though it was initially derided by some who accused the Prince of building his own feudal version of Disneyland.

The Duchy is also working on its largest new-build development in Nansledan in Newquay, Cornwall, which will have 4,000 homes. Each will be designed to reflect local architectural tradition, with pastel-coloured houses built with locally sourced materials such as Cornish slate on curved roads.

Nansledan, like Poundbury, was originally the King’s vision. But now that his son, the Prince of Wales, has inherited the Duchy he has extended the remit by announcing plans to build temporary accommodation for people experiencing homelessness.

There has been no word yet about whether Prince William might do the same in Faversham.

The town was last week lauded by The Telegraph’s Christopher Howse, who described how Abbey Street, “one of the most beautiful medieval streets in the South of England”, had been saved from demolition by a group of determined locals in the 1950s.

Today, he said many of the town’s timber-framed buildings embody its history. “It boasts 400 buildings listed for their special architectural and historic interest. On Historic England’s online map, they are strung along the central streets like swallows on telegraph wires ready to migrate,” he wrote.

The Kent development is designed to reflect the town’s “unique” character. With solar panels and its own water-treatment system, it will be zero-carbon and water-neutral.

The Duchy has said that 120 homes will be built each year over two decades to allow a gradual integration with the existing town.

Future planning applications will seek to relocate Faversham Cricket Club to be the “active heart” of the development and to upgrade the Faversham Town football ground, delivering an improved training pitch in a new position.

But Sport England said there was a “disappointing” lack of detail regarding both sporting relocations.

As the Duchy’s Faversham plans were put out to public consultation, resident Peter Hall wrote: “Do you really want it to be ‘on your watch’ that all our historic villages are swallowed up into one urban mass, and so much vital agricultural land will be lost forever?”

Sharon Onciu said that her village of Selling, to the southeast of Faversham, would be “destroyed” by the proposal.

“The Duchy of Cornwall is I understand the Prince of Wales?” she wrote. “If the Duchy truly believes this will benefit this part of the world they are wholly misguided. We are already stretched to the limit.

“No one I have met supports this application. In truth we live in constant fear about what the duchy’s next move will be and how it will destroy yet more of our beautiful countryside.”

Nikki Willmott said that if the planning application was granted, “country villages will be a thing of the past”.

The Duchy’s portfolio of land, property and investments is valued at more than £1 billion, providing a sizeable income for the future monarch. The King received £21 million for the year ending March 31 2022, according to its annual accounts.

Swale Borough Council declined to comment.

A spokesman for the Duchy of Cornwall said: “South-east Faversham will, if planning permission is granted, follow in the footsteps of Poundbury, Nansledan and other sustainable Duchy developments and become one of the most environmentally friendly neighbourhoods in the United Kingdom.

“It will prioritise access to green spaces, sustainable transport and will focus on the community’s needs – including affordable housing and a new primary school as well as new traffic infrastructure and healthcare services.

“New green spaces including meadows, orchards, allotments and woodland means biodiversity is set to increase by 20 per cent while a focus on sustainable travel and building a walkable neighbourhood is expected to generate 20 per cent fewer car trips compared to similar-sized communities.”