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A 'Visioning Exercise' is to be carried out on Sark's future - with a team from the Prince's Foundation to visit the island to discuss ways of supporting the small community.
The Prince’s Foundation is a charity set up by King Charles III during his time as the Prince of Wales.
It aims to create communities by offering a range of different training programmes including traditional arts and heritage craft skills, engineering, horticulture and hospitality, and also works to realise His Majesty's views on town planning and sustainable living.
Pictured: The Seigneur wants to rethink Sark's future.
The Foundation has been invited to Sark by the Sark Property Company, of which Seigneur Christopher Beaumont is a director. The visit will be based on the 'Community Capital Assessment and Visioning Exercise' format that the Foundation has successfully applied in other locations.
The Seigneur has long been a proponent of making ethically sound changes to Sark and he hopes this could help achieve that.
“I firmly believe that Sark desperately needs a long-term plan that keeps Sark special, but also makes provision for its future and enables investment. We’ve been speaking to The Prince’s Foundation for more than two years, so confirming their visit is a significant step forward."
The company's second director, Swen Lorenz, said the visit isn't costing the island's government anything but it will help the whole population of Sark.
“We are paying for the cost of this exercise, and the resulting report will be made available to the public. Our company is in a position to facilitate significant investment in Sark, but we first want an independent assessor to gauge the community’s appetite for long-term planning, and work out what is most important to them."
Pictured: Swen Lorenz previously encouraged people to relocate to Sark by advocating the lifestyle it offers.
Four members of the Foundation’s staff will be in the island between Monday 24 and Wednesday 26 April.
Kim Hitch; Director of Projects in Heritage and Architecture, Ben Bolgar; Executive Director for Projects, Savini Rajapakse; an architectural and urban designer, and Chris Mason; one of the Foundation’s landscaping experts, will speak to people living in Sark so they can work on a long term plan for the island's future.
There will be a public event at the Island Hall during the evening of Monday 24 April with smaller, more focused workshops on subjects including Sark heritage, social services, land ownership, and infrastructure.
The Seigneur hopes people will take the time to get involved.
“This is a great opportunity to express views on the future of Sark, so we hope as many residents as possible can attend,” he said.
Pictured: Poundbury's website.
One of the Prince's Foundation’s most notable projects is the town of Poundbury in Dorset.
It is regarded as "a model case for successful town planning and puts sustainable credentials at the heart of its architecture and design".
The Times called Poundbury "One of the best places to live 2023" in a feature article published on 24 March 2023.
Work on Poundbury began in 1993, on Duchy of Cornwall land - which the then-Prince of Wales had responsibility for. Charles III had written a book ‘A Vision of Britain’ in which he set out his principals for 'architecture and urban planning'.
Pictured: Poundbury was based on design ideals held by the then-Prince of Wales.
Built as an extension of Dorchester, Poundbury is "an integrated rather than zoned development, consciously designed to challenge a number of the town planning trends and policies of the 20th century; isolated housing estates and shopping centres far from places of work and leisure, forcing ever greater reliance on the car".
The town is currently home to around 4,600 people in a mix of private and affordable housing, with around 2,600 people working in more than 250 shops, cafés, offices and factories.
Poundbury is approximately 80% built and is planned to grow to around 2,700 homes by 2027.
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