Bray Studios – as busy as ever and about to expand | Royal Borough Observer – Windsor Observer

Historic Bray Studios is all set to expand its film making facilities.

Nexus Planning on behalf of Farmglade Ltd have secured planning permission to build a number of new studio and workshop buildings, as well as to use the adjoining land for outdoor filming purposes - for a temporary two year period.

The development will facilitate the filming of a ground-breaking TV series.

The studios at Down Place, Water Oakley near Maidenhead were established on the site in 1951 and were home to numerous Hammer horror films including the Dracula and Frankenstein movies until 1966, as well as being where the model work for the legendary film Alien was done.

At one point plans to develop the site residentially were announced and filming stopped at the studios.

But last year the much praised new television adaptation of Dracula shown over the Christmas holiday was made there and well as the Elton John biopic Rocketman and its future seems secure again.

The Bray Studios site is in the Green Belt and the proposed development constituted inappropriate development, for which very special circumstances were required.

Oliver Bell, director at Nexus Plannings Reading office, said: Despite the challenges around the Bray Studios site, Nexus Planning was able to demonstrate that the proposed development would generate substantial economic benefits to the local area.

"This included the creation of 400 to 600 direct and indirect jobs on a day-to-day basis, and up to approximately 1,000 at peak times, as well as the investment of millions of pounds in the UK economy as a whole.

"Collectively, the economic benefits were found to clearly outweigh any harm to the Green Belt so were pleased the Council accepted the very special circumstances which existed in this development.

The development was supported by officers and unanimously approved by the Royal Borough's development management panel.

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Bray Studios - as busy as ever and about to expand | Royal Borough Observer - Windsor Observer