Prince’s eco-town gets the all clear

Sherford, an eco-town partly designed by Prince Charles’s architectural foundation, has been granted final approval by the local planning authority.

The development, to be built near Plymouth, Devon, will include 5,500 homes powered by nearby wind turbines and on-site solar heating.

Cars will be banned in some areas, and where they are allowed, pedestrians and cyclists will be given priority.

Dubbed ‘Britain’s greenest settlement’, Sherford will feature 5,500 homes for 12,000 residents.

7,000 jobs in eco-friendly workplaces will fuel the local economy, whilst a cricket pitch, a bowling green, and a community park the size of 300 football pitches - including an organic farm - will provide the leisure space.

Homes, shops and workplaces will all be within walking distance of one another, and if ever residents feel the need to travel further afield, they can use the free bicycle that will be supplied with each house.

Sherford is the second development the Prince has been involved in. The first, Poundbury in Dorset, was designed to promote community spirit and tackle crime.

The Prince has said that he wants the town to be timeless - so that it still feels like a community in 100 years time.

He said: “Build again the types of places we all know strike a chord in our, by now, rather bewildered hearts, however ‘modern’ we are - places that convey an everlasting human story of meaning and belonging.”