Birmingham could "hijack" Pinewood Studios expansion (From Bucks Free Press)

So, in other words, we should let Pinewood bosses do whatever they like or they'll move to Birmingham.
Okay, I understand now.

This well written article (ermm) fails to tell us who Mr Jonathan Stuart-Brown is.
So I will.
He is a Walsall-based scriptwriter and journalist, who delights in signing his name with the letters LLB, indicating that he has a law degree.

Just let Pinewood get on with it- south Bucks has a brilliant history of film making, especially with the National Film and Television School just down the road. We can't let that just disappear.
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You can hardly see the studios at the moment. I'm sure an extension would be covered and hidden by trees and so on.
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I hope Pinewood gets the go ahead.

I am very grateful to The Bucks Free Press for circulating the news. It is of course entirely a matter for South Bucks District Council whether to grant or refuse this application on October 21.
If they approve, then that is the fate and future of this visionary expansion plan and will for better or worse affect the status quo in your delightful part of the world,Iver Heath, Fulmer etc
If they refuse permission, then it does question the wisdom to announce this as a done deal a dozen times to national newspapers in the last three years including almost every hour on the hour one Saturday in 2007 on BBC News 24.

If the locals do not want it, then the West Midlands certainly and enthusiastically does.
All appeals tend to be heavily influenced by political lobbying. So every interested party will lobby if the planning permission is refused at local level.
However, now that Mr Smith seems to have made clear that this is NOT about British based film-making nor British based film-workers BUT ONLY about The South-East, then it may be much harder to play the British National Interest Card if it comes to lobbying and also in seeking national public funding from Lottery Money to Skillset.

The Group Director for Corporate Affairs at Pinewood, Andrew Smith, said the proposal was unrealistic.

Funnily enough that was the attitude people had to the founders of the original Hollywood Film Studios in a desert no-one wanted nor liked living in. Amazingly it worked out extremely well for film-making.

Mr Smith said: "The British film industry is already established in the South-East".
Well much longer established businesses relocate to different countries or expand into new territories every week. If the finances add up, you consider all options. The West Midlands is only seeking the expansion part of Pinewood Studios if it is up for grabs after the locals in South Bucks decide whether they want or do not want this expansion.


Also this comment,

"It would be unworkable to move half of the studios up to the Midlands, or to move the whole lot because the infrastructure is all already in place here (in the South-East)."

does not add up given that Pinewood Shepperton PLC is according to The Sunday Telegraph considering moving half the studios to China, Malaysia and transfering more and more work to Canada. Of course the land is much much cheaper there than in Iver Heath.
If the locals in South Bucks wish to keep their status quo and the huge volume of Stop Project Pinewood literature in Iver Heath and Fulmer indicates this is their express wish, THEN if the expansion is up for grabs, THEN The West Midlands is ideal. It will be welcomed, cherished, get massive community and business support and also be championed politically viz future public funding. I assume you realise what sums Birmingham Council has in revenue. I assume you know what wealth The Black Country and West Midlands has to throw at regeneration plans such as this expansion. The West Midlands is also a lot nearer to Iver Heath than China, Malaysia and Canada. It is also a possible first step to expanding Pinewood Studios around The UK from Cornwall to Scotland thus ensuring much stronger political support and greater future funding in an uncertain fast changing world. This would truly make Pinewood matter to Britain and not just a very small part of The South-East which chooses not to put up any sign post to The Studios but chooses to put up tens of thousands of posters opposing its expansion.
A longterm national expansion and much greater national investment and support for Pinewood Studios would really strengthen The British Film Industry and secure jobs in Iver Heath.
Incidentally anyone been laid off at Pinewood Studios recently ?
A West Midland and then national expansion of Pinewood Studios around The UK would preserve the original Pinewood Studios in Iver Heath, secure Iver Heath jobs and also Iver Heath/Fulmer greenbelt IF THAT IS WHAT THE LOCAL COMMUNITY WANTS TO DO.
If Mr Smith or Mr Dunleavy want to talk after Wednesday's decision, then the door is wide open.
This proposal is in the interest of those employed by Pinewood Studios, those in Iver Heath and Fulmer, South Bucks, The West Midlands and the entire nation, and the longterm robust health of British based film-making......and is only made assuming South Bucks locals choose of their own freewill to turn down the expansion proposal on Wednesday October 21.
I repeat the doors are wide open and suggest Mr Smith has the wisdom to wait and see whether the proposals are in fact realistic when he sees the facts and moreover the financial figures should he need a Plan B for this expansion plan after Wednesday's decision.
Jonathan Stuart-Brown