Pinewood studios has announced Screen Hub UK, a £450 million set of expansion plans adjacent to their world famous site in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire. The preposed development has three main elements:
An innovative film-inspired visitor attraction labelled the “Pinewood Studios Experience”
Educational and business growth hubs with shared community use
The expansion of the existing production studios
Pinewood Studio’s website boasts a convincing and elaborate list of benefits to the local area which will come with the construction and completion of the expansion. They claim that the project will create 1,648 new construction jobs each year of the 3 year building plan, inject £231.9 million into the economy and the start up and support of 50 new businesses. Considering the current global situation, these benefits to the project are not just invaluable, but almost miraculous in a time where local economies and communities across the nation are struggling to survive.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, many of The Pinewood Group’s new films, such as the highly anticipated “No Time To Die” - the 25th James Bond film and Daniel Craig’s outing as 007, have had to be postponed, causing a major blow to the film and television industry.
Sources also announced that Screen Hub UK will include 350,000 square feet of new film production facilities, a green campus, a creative industries business growth area and an educational training and skills hub, firmly asserting Pinewood Studio’s rightful place as the most respected and efficient leader of the film industry.
On the 30th September this year, the Pinewood Group submitted their planning application for the set of expansion plans and stated on their website that “the submission marks the 84th anniversary of the opening of the Pinewood Studios by J. Arthur Rank on 30th September 1936.” It went on to say that “the following years have seen Pinewood Studios develop into an essential contributor to the creative industries sector and the world renowned film production facility it is today”.
As Screen Hub UK will no doubt attract many tourists and fans to the area after its completion, Buckinghamshire Council’s Strategic Sites Committee has resolved to grant planning permission for highway improvements at Five Points Roundabout and Sevenhills Road; all of which will surely change the local infrastructure and community for the better and once and for all putting the area on the map for tourists. Despite the seemingly non-negotiable set of circumstances that Covid-19 has presented, the Pinewood Group shows no desire to slow their plans, and on the contrary, are getting ready to start. Keeping in fashion with their steady lead of the film production industry for many years, Pinewood studios is prepared to act as a catalyst for the development of the industry and to provide us all with the Pinewood Experience, if with just a bit of social distancing!
