King Charles III makes rare joint trip with Sir Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner

By Victoria Ward

The King has made a rare joint visit with Sir Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner to give them a personal tour of the vast new-build development in Cornwall that he inspired.

The visit to Nansledan, a 540-acre extension of Newquay, built on Duchy of Cornwall land, was arranged following multiple discussions about housing between the King and Sir Keir at various meetings.

Sir Keir expressed an interest in seeing the development and so the King offered to show him around, alongside Ms Rayner, the Housing Secretary.

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It is rare, if not unprecedented, for the monarch to be accompanied on an official public engagement by both the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister.

The trio toured various community-based initiatives on the site, including a new high street, which is under construction, a school and an orchard.

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It comes after the Prime Minister set up a taskforce to create the next generation of new towns, as he aims to have 1.5 million new homes built by the next election.

Sir Keir is understood to have expressed a particular interest in Nansledan's focus on community and its infrastructure.

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The town is very much in development, with work due to continue for another 20 years.

When completed, the development will have up to 3700 homes, each designed to reflect local architectural tradition; pastel-coloured houses built with locally-sourced materials, such Cornish slate, on curved roads.

Residents must adhere to a strict set of rules, with washing lines, satellite dishes and caravans, as well as second home owners, all banned.

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The Duchy is aiming to increase affordable housing on the land from 30 per cent to 40 per cent and to create a private rental scheme to remove barriers to entry for those on lower incomes.

Nansledan's construction followed in the footsteps of Poundbury, Dorset, which was the Duchy's first "urban extension" and the first to represent the King's "ideal town", with 2000 homes built from 1993.

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Its design was based on the principles of architecture and urban planning outlined by the then Prince Charles 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.

In 2014, the then Prince called for urbanists to "reconnect with traditional approaches" in an essay that laid out his vision for the future of architecture and planning.

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In a 2000-word essay for The Architectural Review, he said the old should mix with the new and nature should be at the heart of design, adding: "I have lost count of the times I have been accused of wanting to turn the clock back to some Golden Age.

"Nothing could be further from my mind. My concern is the future."

Nansledan, like Poundbury, was originally the King's vision, but since the Prince of Wales inherited the Duchy, he has announced plans to provide 24 homes in Nansledan with "wrap around support" for local people experiencing homelessness.

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