Famous Surrey film studio to display illuminated signs despite neighbours' concerns of being 'under siege'

A famous film studios in Surrey has been granted permission to display illuminated advertising signs across its stages and multi-storey car park. Shepperton Studios will display 12 internally lit signs promoting television shows and films related to the production park.

The signs are effectively light boxes where the designs covering the light can change to advertise different commercial shows and films on streaming services. Varying in height and width, each of the light boxes will be fitted to suit the layout of the stage, with the largest illuminated sign 9.6m tall and 4.8m wide.

The proposed intensity of the light coming from the signs is 300 candela which is less than the strength of a supermarket sign on the high street, according to planning officers. Members unanimously approved Shepperton Studio's application at a Spelthorne Borough Council planning meeting on Wednesday, November 13 despite claims residents were 'under siege' from light pollution.

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Councillor Darren Clarke said that “residents have been under siege for a long time” by the light from Shepperton Studios and they were “worried that the machinations would just come and come and come”. Cllr Clarke had stated at previous meetings the light pollution from the studios was causing residents to lose sleep and "suffer psychologically".

He said: “I worry that the people in Laleham will have multiple TV screens through the trees that have lost their leaves and will feel they have constant eyes looking at them.” Concerned about the real implications of the proposal, he added there could be a "deficit in lived experience” for those near the studios.

Rebutting the concerns, planning officers clarified that the application was not for television screens but for internally illuminated signs, where a different picture would be placed over the front. It was also not considered to be a distraction to drivers, they said.

“Unless my maths is poor, 300 candela equates to something a bit over an ordinary domestic light bulb per square metre,” said Cllr Lawrence Nichols. “I think if you are going to object to this you better start objecting to security lights.”

Many of the signs will either be facing internally in the studio park, or far away from residential properties so as to be unoffending or not noticeable. Officers advised councillors that the closest resident was 150m away with the furthest residence being 700m and as such the impact of light pollution would be negligible.

Councillors had delayed the decision from the previous planning meeting on October 16. The members voted to defer the application so they could find out more about illuminated signs and the potential impact on neighbouring properties in Oberon Way, to the north of the site.

Previously, the studio proposed 13 glowing signs, illuminated between 7am to 10pm. Nearby households, including Shepperton Residents’ Association, objected against the scheme claiming it was an “overdevelopment”, making the buildings “more visually obtrusive” and could cause light pollution.

But, following concerns raised at the previous meeting, operating times were flipped to 7am-9pm. The applicant had also removed the northern illuminated sign to address some of the concerns raised.

Andrew M Smith OBE DL, Director of Shepperton Studios: Shepperton Studios is the second biggest Studio in the world. The billboards on the lot are all related to productions shot at the Studio and are there to motivate and inspire current filmmakers and producers and those of the future. The billboards are all switched off automatically at 9pm.

Shepperton Studios, which is the second biggest film and HETV studio in the world following an expansion that was completed earlier this year, is home to both Netflix and Amazon and has also been the home of some of the country's biggest blockbuster films, including Gladiator, James Bond and the Harry Potter films.