The streets where Billy Elliot was seen skipping through a mining community in the North of England is the unlikely location of a new £300 million film studio complex. The closure of the pits in Durham during the early 1990’s literally put half the male work (25,000 jobs were directly and indirectly affected) force on the dole and in turn ripped apart a local economy. The proposal from Pinewood studios is set to provide local people with the change of retraining and employment in a raft of new jobs, from initial the construction to being a film extra!
Bulgaria is a current favourite for film location and Durham is going to have to work hard to win the contracts necessary but they have good infrastructure high quality locations and a very willing workforce in their favour.
The development will be based on what is currently open farmland comprising of 200 acres. The surrounding area has already seen a heavy investment from public and private sector spending with nearly half a billion pounds already being pumped into business parks, roads, retail space and housing developments.
Fingers crossed the development gets the go head as thousands of jobs will be created with a major knock on effect to the area with supporting services.