THE NEXT stage of the Prince Charles’ model development at Poundbury is now on show to the public.

After the Duchy of Cornwall was granted outline planning permission for phases three and four of the scheme, details of the plans for the developments north east quadrant have gone on display at Poundbury Garden Centre.

The area will contain 500 homes and 12,000 square metres of employment space.

As the next stage of development, a the north east quadrant will be the subject of a full planning application in November once the Duchy of Cornwall has consulted with the public and local authorities.

Members of the public will be able to give feedback at the exhibition, which is open throughout the Garden Centre’s opening hours until Friday, October 7, through a comments book.

Poundbury construction manager Peter James encouraged people to come along and view the plans for the north east quadrant.

He said: “We would like people to come along, make comments and have a look – that’s what it’s all about.

“It’s a little bit different than one we’ve done before because now we’ve got the Poundbury Development Brief in place people might think they’ve seen all the plans before. But there will be some interesting images there and we hope people come and have a look.”

Mr James said that, subject to a successful planning application and no unforeseen problems with the planning process, development was expected to start early next year and the north east quadrant would take around five years to complete.

He said: “All going well and subject to planning we would like to get going early next year, we want to keep the builders working at Poundbury and keep the continuity.

“We are currently building at a rate of roughly 100 homes a year so we are going to be a good five years up there.”

Mr James said work was progressing well on Queen Mother Square, which will form the centre point of the completed development, and the south west quadrant – the final element of phase two of the development – was expected to be finished in around 18 months.

Earlier this month (Sep) West Dorset District Council’s development control committee supported the outline application for phases three and four.

The final two schemes will involve 1,200 homes overall as well as a new primary school, 25,000 square meters of non-residential development and alterations to the Monkey’s Jump roundabout to accommodate the increase in traffic.

The Duchy of Cornwall hopes to complete the development at Poundbury in the next 10 to 15 years.

n harry.hogger@ dorsetecho.co.uk