Maidenhead & Windsor

As the Windsor and Maidenhead Royal Borough becomes an increasingly popular location for film and television productions, the council is keen to ensure that, while the borough benefits from this potentially lucrative interest, local communities are protected against disruption and inconvenience.

A report, to be discussed by members of the planning and environment overview and scrutiny panel on Thursday (August 9), sets out how a new Windsor and Maidenhead Royal Borough Film Partnership would not only promote the local area to location managers but establish a strict code of conduct that would mean minimum impact on residents.

Co-ordinated by the council, the partnership would involve the widest range of local organisations and businesses, including visitor attractions, the police and other emergency services, chambers of commerce, housing associations, hotels and shopping centres.

A web-based ‘film office’ would feature all the information required by would-be film-makers, including the code of practice, a filming licence application form and a database/photo library of potential locations.

Cllr David Burbage, Windsor and Maidenhead council leader, said although the borough already enjoyed an international reputation, the 2012 Olympics presented an unrivalled opportunity to position itself as an inviting centre for film-makers.

He said: “Many local areas are already popular with film-makers – increasingly so with the Bollywood film industry – and with the Olympic rowing events taking place at Dorney Lake, the borough will be a major centre of world attention. We need to act now so we are well prepared to take advantage of the undoubted opportunities to benefit the local economy and create additional income for the borough.”

Windsor and Maidenhead Cllr Burbage stressed that the undoubted benefits of being a ‘film friendly’ borough must not detract from the council’s priority to safeguard local interests and communities.

He said: “The partnership would set robust criteria to ensure high standards of conduct and operation so that our residents and the local environment would not suffer – and there would be strong sanctions available allowing the council to take action against film-makers who breached the conditions of their licence.”

The report will be discussed at cabinet on Thursday August 23 and if given the go-ahead in principle, work will start to involve other organisations and agencies as potential partners. Drafts of the code of conduct and filming licence application documents will be circulated for comment and planning will get underway for the web-based film office, to be co-ordinated by the council’s communications and marketing team. It is anticipated that the film partnership would be launched late in 2008.

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead