A wide-ranging plan for Warner Bros Studios Leavesden to expand into green belt land has been given the green light.
The proposal includes 11 new sound stages with a maximum height of 21.5 metres, new production offices, three workshops, a multi-storey car park featuring 2,500 parking spaces, and a new roundabout near the A41 North Western Avenue.
At a meeting on December 15, last year, Three Rivers District Council approved the expansion and voted to ask the Government to make a final decision on it.
The Government’s levelling up secretary must be given the opportunity to rule on the plan to satisfy national green belt rules, owing to the scale of the project.
Watford Borough Council did the same on January 10, leaving the plan in the minister's hands.
Yesterday (February 28), a decision approving the plan, with conditions, was published.
Government officials considered the application and decided not to intervene, allowing the borough council to make the decision.
The development would straddle the boundary between the Watford and Three Rivers borough and district areas.
The roughly 10% of the site which falls within the Watford borough boundary only impacts former green belt land, which lost its status when the town's local plan was agreed in October last year.
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Parts within the Three Rivers district area are still designated as green belt land.
To build in the green belt the development would have to be seen as a "special circumstances" case, those arguing it should highlighted the level of investment it will bring to the local area.
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Warner Bros hopes to create 1,625 full-time “high-wage, high-skill” jobs in the Watford area and add £85.7million to the local economy by 2027, through the expansion.
The infrastructure investment of £250m will feature 186 new trees, 19,519 square metres of new woodland planting, and a shuttle bus for local workers.
Describing the scheme, when it was proposed, Warner Bros said: “We have an exciting vision for the future expansion of the studio, designed to meet the increasing demand for our facilities and to bring more skilled jobs and opportunities to the local area, whilst taking into account the interests of those living nearby.”
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