As Government Plans 12 New Towns Modelled on Poundbury, Cornwall's Nansledan Offers Preview

By Zoe Bell, Chair, Community Association of Poundbury

With the government announcing 12 new town locations and emphasising that 'delivery of large-scale, well-designed places is essential to tackling the housing crisis,' it's worth taking a moment to reflect on what this means for our community here in Poundbury.

The New Towns Taskforce, established in 2024 to identify locations for large-scale developments that unlock economic growth and address housing demand, has emphasised creating places with distinct identity and necessary infrastructure. In other words, places like ours.

Councillor William Gibbons recently visited Nansledan, the Duchy of Cornwall's development in Newquay that began in 2014, and his observations offer us an interesting glimpse of how Poundbury's principles are being applied 140 miles west.

Credit W Gibbons

What Nansledan Learned from Poundbury

The fundamentals Poundbury pioneered are all present in Nansledan: courtyard concepts, integrated social housing, and direct connection with the existing town of Newquay. To date, nearly 1,000 of the planned 3,700 dwellings have been built, with completion expected by 2045.

As William notes, 'A lesson learnt from Poundbury is the need for a high street for many retail outlets and a medium-sized supermarket with adequate parking. Market Street will be the central hub of Nansledan, with buildings fitting the Cornish context.' I think it's interesting to see the Poundbury idea—complete with its challenges and solutions—being studied and adapted to meet different local contexts and needs.

Evolution of the Model

Building on Poundbury's experience, Nansledan has introduced several refinements: 20mph speed limits throughout residential areas, generally wider streets, and easier pedestrian access to open countryside. Road adoption by the local council is also proceeding more rapidly than Poundbury experienced in its early years, thanks to more standardised road design features.

Credit: Duchy of Cornwall

Amenities including shops and cafes are already operational, and the primary school opened in 2019 is outstanding. A pub, doctor's surgery, pharmacy, and post office are all in the planning stages—essential services that Poundbury demonstrated were crucial to creating genuine communities rather than dormitory developments. The development's nautical aesthetic reflects its Cornish coastal location, with the sea less than two miles away. House prices are aimed at local Cornish residents. As in Poundbury, holiday rentals are banned, though second homes are permitted.

William adds, 'I highly recommend a visit to Nansledan if you are in the area. It is only two and a half hours drive from Poundbury on a good day out of season!'

What This Means for Us

As the government moves forward with plans to deliver up to 300,000 homes across 12 new town locations over the coming decades, both Poundbury and Nansledan will provide examples of this development approach in practice.

The government has welcomed the Taskforce's emphasis on 'ensuring new towns are designed in line with a placemaking approach which should form the building blocks of any new towns, ensuring that they are places where people are proud to live and work.'

For those of us who live here, this national initiative means the development model we've been part of in Dorchester is now informing government planning policy across England. What we've lived through—the successes, the lessons learned—is now being studied and replicated nationwide.

I hope you'll agree that's remarkable!

Thanks to Councillor William Gibbons for sharing his observations from Nansledan, and to the Duchy of Cornwall for their assistance with facts and figures.