Film studio picks green battle over land with locals

Pinewood Studios has been part of movie history for many years and home to scenes from the James Bond and Harry Potter films. The studio wants to expand but a few locals are using an old green law to fight back.

Pinewood looked to expand by building 1,400 homes that would double as sets. Each home would be available for sale and look like classic film sets such as a San Francisco row house or Venetian palazzo. One side would act as the set for TV or movies while the other would be the owner’s entrance. They argued that the expansion could help the UK film industry be competitive because it would create 1,600 jobs. Pinewood also claimed that the consolidation would cut travel costs and therefore carbon emissions.

But here’s the catch. The land that Pinewood owns is in a green belt, zoned areas that are kept open to preserve the environment for agricultural, forestry, or for recreation purposes. Of course residents were against it and argued that the development wouldn’t preserve the green belt’s integrity. Pinewood pressed on and was rejected by the local government who felt the project “caused significant degradation to the local environment and quality of life of local residents.”

Pinewood says the project will built eventually but residents aren’t waiting around. A woman known as Mrs. Parsons submitted an application to rezone the green belt to a village green. Village greens are common areas used for community activities and if the motion goes through Pinewood cannot build on the land. She also included forty “evidence forms” from other residents that claim they use the area for village green activities like recreation already.

One producer made the distinction that Pinewood is looking out for some green that doesn’t involve land saying, “It’s a housing development; they’re going to make a ton of money. It’s going to be of little benefit to the film industry.”