Dame Judi angry at eco-town plan in her 'beloved Stratford'

The BARD campaign's message is very clear: yes to eco towns, but not in a location that will devastate a town of such historical and cultural importance.

Dame Judi Dench speaks out against the proposed eco-town in Long Marston

Mail on Sunday 6 April 2008

As Elizabeth I, Judi Dench perfectly played the kind of Queen who would pour 'foul scorn' on any threat to England.

As M in the 007 movies she tamed the wayward James Bond and as Lady Catherine de Bourg in Pride And Prejudice she could almost turn men to stone with her contemptuous glare.

So when the Government revealed plans for an 'eco-town' next to Dame Judi's beloved spiritual home, Shakespeare's birthplace of Stratford-on-Avon, it unwittingly picked a fight with a formidable opponent.

Dame Judi, 73, who has made many acclaimed Stratford performances, is incensed by the plans.

"Stratford is a jewel in the crown of the nation's heritage," she stormed.

"There can be very few places in the world of such cultural significance as the town in which the world's greatest dramatist lived and worked. It is folly to put this at risk."