Government to review rejection of Marlow Film Studios

The decision to reject plans for the  multi-million pound Marlow Film Studios will be reviewed by the government.

The plans for the studios were rejected in June by Buckinghamshire council primarily over concerns about the use of green belt land.

At the time, Buckinghamshire Council supported a recommendation from its planning officers that the application be refused, after some local residents had raised worries over it being built on green belt land and its possible effect on local roads.

The developer Dido Property Limited has since appealed against this decision, and Marlow Film Studios CEO Robert Laycock is now working with the review team. He believes the studios meet national government goals.

According to a BBC report, Laycock said: “We think our project meets national government goals on growth, on jobs, on international investment, and on support for the UK’s world class film and TV sector. The high technology studio campus we are building will meet the needs of global investors and production companies, preparing the UK for the next half-century of British film-making.

“We will also continue to collaborate with local communities, confident of the benefits that our project will bring in terms of local investment, improved infrastructure, 4,000 new jobs and unparalleled opportunities for training and education.”

Back in June, when the Studios plan was rejected, he said: “In addition to luminaries like James Cameron, Andy Serkis, Paul Greengrass, Richard Curtis, Jeremy Irons and a host of global figures who support us, we are most touched by the unprecedented level of local support from Buckinghamshire. Over 5,200 people wrote letters of support, and well over 100 people turned up in person to the meeting today to show councillors how much they care.”

Marlow Film Studios had been planned to be built on the unused Marlow quarry. Film director Cameron had written a letter to the council stating that the facility could become a base for his Lightstorm 3D VFX company as well as home to a training centre. The Studios had announced plans to invest £20 million in local infrastructure in an attempt to answer the concerns of locals. 

The facility had planned to contain 18 sound stages over 472,000 sq ft, 410,000 sq ft of workshops, and 280,000 sq ft of production offices over a 36 hectare plot, with the hope to support 4,000 jobs in the area - 2,000 in technical and production roles and 2,000 in the wider economy - as well as spur £3.5 billion of new investment in film and TV production, of which £1.5 billion would be spent locally.