Council spent £240k opposing studios project

The plans included sound stages, workshops and offices

A council that was opposed to a major film studios being built on green belt land spent £240,000 successfully fighting against it.

The plan for the complex in Holyport, Berkshire, was proposed by investment company Greystoke Land but Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (RBWM) councillors rejected it in March 2024.

Housing minister Matthew Pennycook upheld the authority's decision to refuse permission earlier this month.

RBWM's deputy head of planning Louise Reid celebrated the decision and said it was a good outcome for the authority's officers.

She said Mr Pennycook's decision was the first appeal the current Labour government had dismissed after deciding it would take the decision itself rather than leaving it to a planning inspector.

"That's a bit of a feather in our cap that we've actually got a dismissed appeal – so good outcome," she added.

The plan included sound stages, workshops, offices, footpaths, a multi-storey car park, a filming area, a new roundabout and a "media village" for post-production work.

Rejecting Greystoke Land's application, the government agreed with the council that the company had not searched widely enough for "reasonably alternative sites".

The cost of opposing the studios plan was less than the £260,000 RBWM spent on defending its decision to refuse the Spencer's Farm housing development, which it lost last year.