Prince Charles and Camilla on duty as they make the rounds for their charities
PRINCE Charles was left impressed today as he toured a housing development supported by one of his charities.
Prince Charles was left impressed today as he toured a housing development supported by one of his charities.
The Prince of Wales visited the Highbury Gardens development in Islington, north London, which received support from the Prince's Foundation for Building Community.
The organisation encouraged developers to involve locals in the design of the project, helped select architects and ensured the plans suited the surrounding areas.
During his visit Charles was given a tour by six-year-old Kenadee Stephenson to see her bedroom where her met her mother Angela Stephenson.
"are you sure it is not hibernating?"
In the toy-filled room, the Prince tried to spot Kenadee's hamster and joked "are you sure it is not hibernating?"
Charles was also particularly taken with the decor in Lydia De'Ath's fifth-floor home off Holloway Road, which is worth over £500,000.
The walls were decorated with gold antler and thistle pattern with a turquoise background and the heir told Ms De'Ath: "This is what we have."
Accompanying Charles on the visit was housing minister Mark Prisk, who said the Government was accelerating its plans to release unused public sector land back into the market.
On Charles, Mr Prisk said: "He has a fantastic knowledge and experience of this area which all of us can learn from."
The Homes and Communities Agency provided just under two-thirds of the £35million cost of the project.
Mr Prisk added: "We've been able to get land away which will house something like 33,000 families so far, the next step is to get that up and running to accelerate towards the 100,000 mark and beyond.
Elliot Lipton, manager director of First Base-the project developers- also joined the Prince on his tour.
Mr Lipton said the Prince had told him to carry on the enlightened work and that he endorsed the principles they were trying to deliver.
Meanwhile the Duchess of Cornwall spent the afternoon in Wiltshire on visit to Community First's Youth Action Wiltshire programme at Langley Burrell Village Hall, where she is patron.
The Service offers support to a network of 72 youth clubs and also to disadvantaged and vulnerable young people aged between 5 and 25 years old.
Camilla has been a patron of the project since July 2005.
The Duchess met three firearm and sniffer dogs as well as watching a mountain bike mechanics course.
The three black Sprocker Spaniels were brought along by ex-MoD policeman Stuart Phillips, who spoke about the role the dogs play in searching for drugs, firearms and explosives.
Mr Phillips travels around the country warning young people about the dangers of drugs and the devastating effect they can have.