Decision imminent on divisive Marlow Film Studios project backed by world famous directors

Planning inspector Katie McDonald will host the final day of her weeks-long probe into the Hollywood-backed project virtually as parties make their closing submissions.

The final day of the inquiry will hear from lawyers for the applicant Dido Property Limited and the legal team representing Buckinghamshire Council, which refused to grant planning permission for the studios last year.

Ms McDonald will present her findings to housing secretary and deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, who has the ultimate decision on whether or not the studios is allowed to be built.

The inquiry began at the council’s Queen Victoria Road offices in High Wycombe on January 21 and has so far heard from planning experts, barristers, film industry figures and local residents, who have given their views on Dido’s proposals.

The company’s original plans for the studios included building 18 sound stages or studios, 19 workshops, car parking space for 1,117 spaces including two multistorey car parks, offices and backlots on land to the south of Marlow Road, next to the A404 Junction.

An ‘entrance square’ consisting of cafes, changing rooms, bike storage, a creche, health and fitness rooms and other facilities were also planned, along with a studio hub consisting of an exhibition and event atrium and screening rooms.

Plans also included a community building, as well as a bridge linking plots four and five of the site to the ‘principal backlot’, and a new roundabout and related works to the A4155.

However, the council’s strategic sites committee voted to reject the plans during a meeting in May 2024 on several grounds, the first of which was the impact of the studios on the green belt. Dido appealed the council’s ruling.

Councillors accepted planning officers’ view that the project would amount to ‘inappropriate development’ on such a site, resulting in ‘spatial and visual harm’ to the green belt.

However, during the inquiry, Dido’s lawyers have argued that the film studios land, a former quarry and land infill site, is not green belt due to it being ‘poor quality’.

This has been one of the main points made by Sasha White KC, a barrister for Landmark Chambers acting for Dido, who has argued that the site is actually ‘grey belt’ a term coined by the new Labour government to describe lower quality land.

However, this argument has been disputed by wildlife campaigners who point to the diverse species of birds around the site and residents who use the area for recreational purposes.

Among them are economist Dr Thorsten Polleit, a resident of the nearby Grade II Westhorpe House, who addressed the inquiry during its earliest stages and warned that allowing the studios to be built would deal a ‘deadly blow’ to the concept of the green belt.

He said: “It is an entirely unsuitable project that would cause great damage to and destroy the peace of the people who have deliberately chosen to live in a green belt area.”

Residents have also disputed Dido’s argument that the film studios are needed at all, pointing to US President Donald Trump’s bid to ‘repatriate’ film and TV projects back to Hollywood and Pinewood Studios’ recent closure of its TV unit as evidence the film and TV industry in the UK is in decline.

However, some residents and industry figures say there is a need for a new filmmaking site in Bucks, including Philip Ball, who runs TV and film clearance business Ballpark Media from Marlow where he lives.

He earlier told the inquiry: “We are finding that big companies like Disney – who most recently were filming Snow White in the area – were having to shut down some of their projects before they had even started because the studio space just wasn’t there.”

The closing day of the Marlow Film Studios public inquiry can be viewed online.