When I first moved to Poundbury a little over 18 months ago, I have to say I was surprised by the anti-Poundbury viewpoints that I heard expressed, often on the Dorset Echo’s website.

Locals, it seemed, so hated the place that everything from a waste transfer station to a gypsy camp was proposed.

However, 18 months on and thanks to the self-styled Poundbury Resi-dents Association (PRA), which claims to represent, it seems, the aims and values of every busybody on Poundbury, I am starting to get a little fed up myself.

Prince Charles, a man for whom I have great respect, wanted Pound-bury to be a sustainable development. That is why many of us are blessed with wooden sash windows that are no barrier to winter draughts.

The PRA, however, having successfully campaigned to have all the gravel that lies on top of the environmentally friendly tarmac driveways stuck down with equally environmentally resin, is now spearheading a campaign against solar panels, which they see as for ‘individual benefit at the cost of the community’.

Strange perspectives on sustainability, one might think.

And if that wasn’t enough, they are also very keen to clamp down on any local business that doesn’t rent premises in Poundbury.

A mobile pizza van is currently being seen off, supposedly because it competes unfairly with other businesses in Dorchester.

In reality, the other pizza businesses in Dorchester are chain outfits, and besides, the environmental cost of delivering individual pizzas from the town to Poundbury is surely great-er than the cost of people wandering across the Great Field to get one.

But the real reason is yet again nimbyism, as can be seen from the minutes of the last meeting where the presence of a mobile sandwich delivery van and that terror of housing estates – the ice cream van – have also been singled out for attention.

One cannot help but feel that one is living in some kind of model village, where any attempt at reducing one’s carbon impact, or supporting local employment, is somehow seen as a crime against the community.

I would be much, much happier if the PRA confined their interfering to matters where they could make a real difference – the presence, for example, of numerous piles of dog mess around the estate.

It is no wonder Poundbury has a reputation as a haven for snobs.

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