Wicklow County Council voted for its largest rezoning of land in the last five years after architects for the landowner claimed in a formal submission that Ardmore Film Studios were intending to move to the site near Ashford.
Ardmore said yesterday that it knew nothing about the claim, and stressed it never had any intention of moving to the site. Last month the council voted to rezone the 172- acre farmland site at Ballyhenry, near Ashford, for a major commercial and sports complex.
The rezoning of the land, close to the new N11 dual carriageway and less than 30 miles from Dublin, is potentially a major windfall for its owner, Mr Joe O'Connell, a prominent businessman. Agricultural land makes an average of €19,500 per acre in Co Wicklow, whereas commercial development land has been reaching €150,000 per acre for sites as far south as Arklow, 50 miles from Dublin.
The site, two miles north of Ashford, was the largest rezoning approved by the council last month - against the advice of the county manager - during a marathon session to debate submissions on the current draft development plan.
In a formal written submission to the council on behalf of the landowner, Mr Tim Rowe of Rowe McGill Architects said that the "Studios at Ardmore are now not satisfactory and require re-location".
The document went on: "I am aware that an approach has been made for the relocation of the facility at Ardmore to the mid-west of county Kildare. This proposal is being supported in Kildare and will happen in 18 months if action is not taken by Co Wicklow.
"Wicklow currently has the benefits of this industry, they will be lost to another county."
Mr Rowe was unavailable for comment yesterday.
Ardmore's managing director, Mr Kevin Moriarty, said yesterday that he found the situation "very strange". He said: "Ardmore has had no interest whatsoever in this rezoning. We have had no discussions with anybody, including the landowner or the council."
Ardmore had no plans to move, he said. "I'm in the fiction business all right, but there is no truth to this."
He said Ardmore intends to contact the council to make its position clear.
The studio has been in operation for the last 40 years, and has been used for most of the major international movies filmed in Ireland .
The landowner, Mr O'Connell, said that the inclusion in the submission of claims about Ardmore was an "inadvertent" mistake, but that he fully intended to develop a major film studio facility on the site.
One councillor, who voted against the proposal, has questioned whether the rezoning would have been approved had the claims about Ardmore not been made.
"Clearly Ardmore Studios is a very important thing for Wicklow to have, and any councillor would have had to make sure we keep it," Mr Derek Mitchell of Fine Gael said.
He also criticised councillors for failing to check their facts before making such rezoning proposals.
The rezoning proposal was made by Fianna Fáil councillor, Mr Fachtna Whittle. He is on holidays and was unavailable yesterday.
Despite the rezoning being approved last month, it could still be rescinded when the council votes on the final draft of the development plan later this year.