Shepperton Studios' grand plan to effectively double its size at a cost of nearly £750 million is being scaled back, a company director said.

In an interview with a local paper, the Bucks Free Press, Andrew Smith, the studios' head of corporate affairs, suggested that local community concerns about the massive development project were the
primary reason for reducing it. "We have listened to representations from the community," he said, "and we are now proposing to use about 32 percent of the land, instead of 100 percent. We've always had a good relationship with the community, and we want to maintain that."

Nevertheless, the new development still includes plans for permanent outdoor sets that include a Venetian canal, a Tudor village and street scenes from San Francisco, Paris and Prague. "Pinewood Group, the owner of Shepperton Studios is looking to be the creative hub of the UK, if not Europe," Smith said.

Source: contactmusic.com