UK Blocks Pinewood Expansion Plan

Pinewood Film studios has been refused permission to develop one of its sites- a project, they claim, would have created about 1000 jobs and 420 affordable homes.
The government shelved the £200m 'Hollywood project plan’ siding with local campaigners who have fiercely opposed the plans for Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, since they were first announced in 2007.
Pinewood had hoped to get permission to build a 100-acre set on land in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, next to the studios' current site. The plans included building replicas of city centres including Paris, Venice and New York.
But the government held up a council rejection and planning inspector Ava Wood said the proposal would "significantly alter the landscape character and appearance of the area to its detriment" and therefore constitute an "inappropriate development in the Green Belt".
She also reported that little weight could be given to Pinewood's claims about the number of jobs the project would be able to deliver.
The studios, which have been operating for more than 70 years, have been the location for Bond films including The Spy Who Loved Me, A View To A Kill and, more recently, Quantum Of Solace. As well as other blockbusters Mamma Mia! and Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time.
Ironically the verdict comes in the week Prime Minister David Cameron said he wanted producers to get more help to generate "commercially successful" independent pictures, which are not bankrolled by Hollywood.
Despite the stumbling block the studios said that they would remain committed to movie making in Britain.
Mr Smith, Pinewood Studio's Group Director, Corporate Affairs, told BBC: "We are disappointed (about the rejection of the plans) which we have been working on since 2007, but the UK film industry is at the centre of our plans. We will continue to invest," he said.
Mr Smith said as well as hiring out studio facilities to film-makers Pinewood is also starting to make its own movies.
(LB)