Project Pinewood plans put forward

Jun 1 2009 by Alun Thorne, Birmingham Post

A new live-in film set representing streets including New York, Paris and Venice is one step closer as Pinewood Shepperton prepares to submit its planning application.

Pinewood Shepperton said that following public consultation, it will today be putting forward the planning application to South Bucks District Council for Project Pinewood.

The project is described as “a long term scheme of national significance to create a living and working community for the creative industries”.

Pinewood, which announced the scheme in November 2007, hopes to build on a 100-acre green belt site adjacent to the existing studios in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire.

The development, estimated to cost around £200 million, features backdrops, including a Venetian canal, a Roman amphitheatre, a Tudor marketplace for period dramas and street scenes from downtown New York, French Quarter New Orleans, European townhouses, as well as a Chicago suburb.

The company is planning to incorporate up to 1,500 homes – a mix of apartments, town and detached houses – in the development.

Other amenities considered as part of the project include a primary school, indoor and outdoor sports facilities and cinema, theatre and music productions

The studio said: “Project Pinewood is the most innovative and forward looking strategic initiative in the UK screen and related industries, designed to achieve economic efficiencies in filming and reduction in carbon emissions.”