Monday, 20 July 2009
Pinewood destruction of greenbelt upsets locals
If land is boring, go live elsewhere
Jul 16 2009 Buckinghamshire Advertiser
I AM writing in response to A Geer's letter 'Why worry about rural character?' regarding the development at Pinewood Studios (Advertiser, July 9).
The fact that Greater London's population is increasing is exactly why the Green Belt should be protected and incentives given to people to move away from being just congested in the London area.
The majority of people who choose to live in the South Buckinghamshire area do so because it is rural and not like Slough and Uxbridge, otherwise perhaps they would have moved to a town in the first place. As for widening the country roads like Alderbourne Lane, I can assure you residents would not welcome it.
Perhaps AGeer should consider whether he/she is living in the right area for their lifestyle, as obviously describing the area as 'boring farmland' is not only offensive but suggests that he/she does not deserve to live in such a beautiful environment.
People like A Geer have just proved the point that the Pinewood Project is nothing more than just an undercover housing project. The number of jobs it will create is very low compared with the number of
people living there. Most of these jobs will go to people not living in the South Bucks area; and it will takes jobs away from other areas of the country, as the film industry concentrates on this area and reduces the need for staff, with economies of scale and cost savings. The project will increase pollution, increase traffic (estimated at 4,000 extra car movements per day), double the size of a small community, destroy wildlife areas and ruin the landscape.
It is estimated it will affect other rural areas up to 15 miles away. If we wanted to live in Paris, Amsterdam, New York or Venice, we would move there.
Who benefits the most? - Pinewood shareholders and investors. Perhaps A Geer is one.
Friday, 26 June 2009
Fulmer Village Day (24th June)
TV entrepreneur Peter Jones is set to open this year's Fulmer Day.
The Dragon's Den star will kick off the fun at 2pm on Saturday, and entertainment this uear will include music, arts and crafts and activity stalls.
The main road going through the village is set to close for the day, with drivers advised to use the B416 through Stoke Poges instead.
Fulmer Day
The Dragon's Den star will kick off the fun at 2pm on Saturday, and entertainment this uear will include music, arts and crafts and activity stalls.
The main road going through the village is set to close for the day, with drivers advised to use the B416 through Stoke Poges instead.
Fulmer Day
More anger over Pinewood plans
More anger over Pinewood plans
PINEWOOD Studios' plans for a huge expansion to their site have continued to provoke anger among members of the nearby community.
Iver parish council have hit out at the plans, which would see a large number of permanent film sets resembling places like New York, Paris and San Francisco being built on Green Belt land in Iver Heath.
This would increase the number of people living in Iver Heath by about 3,300, almost doubling the current population of 3,500.
The parish council and residents are concerned that the size of the development is on far too large a scale for the village to cope with.
Julian Wilson, chairman of the parish council, said: "I cannot see how the infrastructure of this village will be sufficient. There are already problems with traffic at the moment, which will be massively increased if this goes ahead.
"The whole thing is fundamentally flawed. We are talking about five storey French style buildings being built, among other things, which would totally and completely change the style of the village.
"The houses in roads like Pinewood Green and Ashford Road, which are right next to this development will be hugely affected."
A planning application for the building work has been submitted to South Bucks District Council (SBDC), with a decision expected later this year.
Mr Wilson added: "I cannot see how this can be allowed. The very fact that it is on Green Belt land should be enough for the application to be turned d
PINEWOOD Studios' plans for a huge expansion to their site have continued to provoke anger among members of the nearby community.
Iver parish council have hit out at the plans, which would see a large number of permanent film sets resembling places like New York, Paris and San Francisco being built on Green Belt land in Iver Heath.
This would increase the number of people living in Iver Heath by about 3,300, almost doubling the current population of 3,500.
The parish council and residents are concerned that the size of the development is on far too large a scale for the village to cope with.
Julian Wilson, chairman of the parish council, said: "I cannot see how the infrastructure of this village will be sufficient. There are already problems with traffic at the moment, which will be massively increased if this goes ahead.
"The whole thing is fundamentally flawed. We are talking about five storey French style buildings being built, among other things, which would totally and completely change the style of the village.
"The houses in roads like Pinewood Green and Ashford Road, which are right next to this development will be hugely affected."
A planning application for the building work has been submitted to South Bucks District Council (SBDC), with a decision expected later this year.
Mr Wilson added: "I cannot see how this can be allowed. The very fact that it is on Green Belt land should be enough for the application to be turned d
Villagers continue to rail against green belt studios
"There are already problems with traffic at the moment, which will be massively increased if this goes ahead.
"The whole thing is fundamentally flawed. We are talking about five-storey French style buildings being built, among other things, which would totally and completely change the style of the village. The houses in roads like Pinewood Green and Ashford Road, which are right next to this development, will be hugely affected."
A planning application for the building work has been submitted to South Bucks District Council (SBDC), with a decision expected later this year.
Mr Wilson added: "I cannot see how this can be allowed. The very fact that it is on green belt land should be enough for the application to be turned down."
belt-studios-82398-23911797/">Villagers continue to rail against green belt studios
Sunday, 14 June 2009
U.K. town takes on movie studio
U.K. town takes on movie studio
U.K. town takes on movie studio
The Black Horse Pub in Fulmer, England
Britain's Pinewood Studios has designs on doubling its size. But local residents say the expansion will spoil the countryside, and the plan isn't quite what it seems. Stephen Beard reports.
The Black Horse Pub in the village of Fulmer, England, is a meeting place for opponents to the Pinewood Studios expansion. (Stephen Beard/Marketplace)
More on Entertainment
* Listen to this Story
* E-mail
* Print
* Comment
* Pinewood Studio's Group Director Andrew Smith
Pinewood Studio's Group Director Andrew Smith
* Kay Keane, manager of the Black Horse Pub
Kay Keane, manager of the Black Horse Pub
* Ronnie Lamb, chairman of the local parish council, pets one of his donkeys. He opposes the Pinewood Studios project.
Ronnie Lamb, chairman of the local parish council, pets one of his donkeys. He opposes the Pinewood Studios project.
TEXT OF STORY
Kai Ryssdal: You've heard of Hollywood, of course. And Bollywood, probably too -- India's movie industry based in Mumbai. But what about Pinewood? It too is part of the film business. It's a studio about 20 miles outside London. It's been kind of a mini-Hollywood since the 1930s, turning out movies like "Day of the Jackal" and "Phantom of the Opera." Now Pinewood's got plans to expand out into the surrounding countryside. But the neighbors claim that like everything else in movie-making this plan is not quite what it seems. Marketplace's Stephen Beard reports.
STEPHEN BEARD: Sprawling across 100 acres of rural southern England, Pinewood is already big. All the Bond movies were made here, along with scores of American blockbusters: "Dark Knight," "Wolfman," and the "Bourne Ultimatum."
But Pinewood's Group Director Andrew Smith says he and his colleagues want to expand. They've bought another 100 acres of nearby countryside, and they're planning what he calls a visionary project.
ANDREW SMITH: What we are looking to do is to build a living and working community for the creative industries. And this will be the first of its kind, we think, in the world actually.
The plan at a cost of $300 million: to build up to 1,400 homes for movie-workers, cameramen and carpenters, and set designers and the like. These homes will then double as a film set. They'll be arranged in a series of permanent, street scenes available as a backdrop for moviemaking.
SMITH: We're building 16 street scapes, which will replicate your typical street in Paris, Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam, Venice. There are street scenes from New York, Boston, New Orleans, and San Francisco.
He says the project will save money and the environment. There'll be less need to fly film crews to different locations around the world. That will cut Pinewood's carbon emissions. But the plan is not going down well with the locals.
In The Black Horse Pub in the neighboring village of Fulmer, there's almost total opposition. Pub manager Kay Keane says, the landscape around the studio is designated as Green Belt. That means it's legally protected with strict curbs on building and development.
KAY KEANE: Green Belt is Green Belt. You cannot build on Green Belt. And it should never be allowed.
She says Pinewood is in the business of creating illusions, and this project is just another one. She believes it's a sham, a way to get round the Green Belt planning restrictions and make a mint out of the real estate.
KEANE: They're trying to pull the wool over our eyes by making it into Little Venice and Rome, having that as a concept.
BEARD: You think this is just a residential development project?
KEANE: That's all it is.
RONNIE LAMB: Arthur! Arthur's coming. Come on Fred!
Ronnie Lamb calling his two pet donkeys. Ronnie is chairman of the local Parish Council. He says no one could possibly object to Pinewood building its street scenes. The problem is then populating them permanently with up to 4,000 real people.
LAMB: The major concerns from the locals, who actually like Pinewood, is that we're going to have a huge development where the local roads are simply totally unable to cope with that level of traffic.
Back at Pinewood, the studio is quietly confident that it will eventually assuage local concerns and persuade the authorities to approve the plan. Movie-making, after all, is a lucrative, and highly popular industry.
BOND MOVIE: Good to see you Mr. Bond!
But Pinewood, scene of so many staged confrontations, must know that it now has a real fight on its hands.
At Pinewood Studios, this is Stephen Beard for Marketplace.
U.K. town takes on movie studio
The Black Horse Pub in Fulmer, England
Britain's Pinewood Studios has designs on doubling its size. But local residents say the expansion will spoil the countryside, and the plan isn't quite what it seems. Stephen Beard reports.
The Black Horse Pub in the village of Fulmer, England, is a meeting place for opponents to the Pinewood Studios expansion. (Stephen Beard/Marketplace)
More on Entertainment
* Listen to this Story
* Comment
* Pinewood Studio's Group Director Andrew Smith
Pinewood Studio's Group Director Andrew Smith
* Kay Keane, manager of the Black Horse Pub
Kay Keane, manager of the Black Horse Pub
* Ronnie Lamb, chairman of the local parish council, pets one of his donkeys. He opposes the Pinewood Studios project.
Ronnie Lamb, chairman of the local parish council, pets one of his donkeys. He opposes the Pinewood Studios project.
TEXT OF STORY
Kai Ryssdal: You've heard of Hollywood, of course. And Bollywood, probably too -- India's movie industry based in Mumbai. But what about Pinewood? It too is part of the film business. It's a studio about 20 miles outside London. It's been kind of a mini-Hollywood since the 1930s, turning out movies like "Day of the Jackal" and "Phantom of the Opera." Now Pinewood's got plans to expand out into the surrounding countryside. But the neighbors claim that like everything else in movie-making this plan is not quite what it seems. Marketplace's Stephen Beard reports.
STEPHEN BEARD: Sprawling across 100 acres of rural southern England, Pinewood is already big. All the Bond movies were made here, along with scores of American blockbusters: "Dark Knight," "Wolfman," and the "Bourne Ultimatum."
But Pinewood's Group Director Andrew Smith says he and his colleagues want to expand. They've bought another 100 acres of nearby countryside, and they're planning what he calls a visionary project.
ANDREW SMITH: What we are looking to do is to build a living and working community for the creative industries. And this will be the first of its kind, we think, in the world actually.
The plan at a cost of $300 million: to build up to 1,400 homes for movie-workers, cameramen and carpenters, and set designers and the like. These homes will then double as a film set. They'll be arranged in a series of permanent, street scenes available as a backdrop for moviemaking.
SMITH: We're building 16 street scapes, which will replicate your typical street in Paris, Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam, Venice. There are street scenes from New York, Boston, New Orleans, and San Francisco.
He says the project will save money and the environment. There'll be less need to fly film crews to different locations around the world. That will cut Pinewood's carbon emissions. But the plan is not going down well with the locals.
In The Black Horse Pub in the neighboring village of Fulmer, there's almost total opposition. Pub manager Kay Keane says, the landscape around the studio is designated as Green Belt. That means it's legally protected with strict curbs on building and development.
KAY KEANE: Green Belt is Green Belt. You cannot build on Green Belt. And it should never be allowed.
She says Pinewood is in the business of creating illusions, and this project is just another one. She believes it's a sham, a way to get round the Green Belt planning restrictions and make a mint out of the real estate.
KEANE: They're trying to pull the wool over our eyes by making it into Little Venice and Rome, having that as a concept.
BEARD: You think this is just a residential development project?
KEANE: That's all it is.
RONNIE LAMB: Arthur! Arthur's coming. Come on Fred!
Ronnie Lamb calling his two pet donkeys. Ronnie is chairman of the local Parish Council. He says no one could possibly object to Pinewood building its street scenes. The problem is then populating them permanently with up to 4,000 real people.
LAMB: The major concerns from the locals, who actually like Pinewood, is that we're going to have a huge development where the local roads are simply totally unable to cope with that level of traffic.
Back at Pinewood, the studio is quietly confident that it will eventually assuage local concerns and persuade the authorities to approve the plan. Movie-making, after all, is a lucrative, and highly popular industry.
BOND MOVIE: Good to see you Mr. Bond!
But Pinewood, scene of so many staged confrontations, must know that it now has a real fight on its hands.
At Pinewood Studios, this is Stephen Beard for Marketplace.
Saturday, 6 June 2009
Property for Rent in Fulmer
Property for rent in Fulmer. Frostweb are so bad they keep listing it as the wrong address.
Property in Fulmer
Property in Fulmer
South Bucks District Council have three Applications in respect of the Pinewood Development:
1. Pinewood Outline Planning Application (09/00706/OUT)
2. Five Points Roundabout (09/00707/FUL)
3. Junction at Seven Hills Rd/Denham Rd (09/00708/FUL)
However, they have requested further drawings in respect of item 1 and these are not expected for several days yet. Consequently the Applications will not be ready to view on their website till then. You can, however, write in now if you want to state your objections to the Planning Applications at this point.
Do we really think that 1500 homes will be used by families that work on set and that Pinewood will be held responsible for the consequence of the development (traffic accidents, congestion, loss of green belt). Going to be interesting to see the SBDC / Pinewood relationship goes.
1. Pinewood Outline Planning Application (09/00706/OUT)
2. Five Points Roundabout (09/00707/FUL)
3. Junction at Seven Hills Rd/Denham Rd (09/00708/FUL)
However, they have requested further drawings in respect of item 1 and these are not expected for several days yet. Consequently the Applications will not be ready to view on their website till then. You can, however, write in now if you want to state your objections to the Planning Applications at this point.
Do we really think that 1500 homes will be used by families that work on set and that Pinewood will be held responsible for the consequence of the development (traffic accidents, congestion, loss of green belt). Going to be interesting to see the SBDC / Pinewood relationship goes.
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