Local government planners have rejected plans for a major media investment in the latest sign that NIMBYism is now Britain’s most potent political force.
Buckinghamshire Council has refused planning permission for a £750m film studio, backed by Avatar director James Cameron and other high-profile Hollywood names.
The proposed site, a former quarry and land infill site next to the A404 dual carriageway, was slated for transformation into a major film production hub that would boost the UK’s creative industry.
Despite promises of local infrastructure improvements, including funding for the heavily congested Westhorpe roundabout and the establishment of new bus services, cycle routes, and walking paths, the council’s strategic sites committee rejected the plans after a six-hour meeting last week.
Local political candidates have united in celebrating the decision, which comes not far away from the site of a proposed data centre in Oxfordshire, which was blocked due to the impact it would have on local views, including that from the M25, which the contested site abutted.
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The proposal also pledged to turn over a quarter of the overall site into “space dedicated to wildlife, nature, and recreation”.
The Conservative candidate for Beaconsfield, Joy Morrissey, urged the studio group not to appeal. “This is the wrong development in the wrong location,” she said on social media.
Morrissey also paid tribute to local campaign groups like Save Marlow’s Greenbelt and the community for their efforts in opposing the development.
Anna Crabtree, Morrissey’s Liberal Democrat rival, said she was “thrilled” at the decision.
The council’s published decision said that it would “result in spatial and visual harm” to the area and conflict with policies aimed at preserving the Green Belt for outdoor sport and recreation.
The council further argued that the increased traffic from the film studio would severely impact road safety and flow, worsening local congestion and on-street parking issues.
Despite the setback, Marlow Film Studios’ chief executive, Robert Laycock, did not rule out future action. “We are disappointed the committee was not able to support this extraordinary proposal,” he told the BBC, highlighting the significant investment opportunity the studio represented for Buckinghamshire.
“We are disappointed the committee was not able to support this extraordinary proposal,” he said. “It is one of the most significant investment opportunities in the future of Buckinghamshire and its residents.”
Cameron, who had previously supported the project, envisioned Marlow as a base for his company, Lightstorm3D, and a training centre for new filmmaking technologies. He said the new development would boost the UK’s current 22.5 per cent share of the global box office.
New studios are cropping up nationwide in the UK amid a boom in film and TV production. The government has been vocally very supportive of the sector.
However, the rejection of the Marlow proposal is another example of the ongoing tension between the government’s agenda and its actual approach to development.
Late last year, a plan to build a data centre on a former quarry next to the M25 was rejected by a government minister – in part because it might ruin the view of the former quarry from the motorway’s bridges.
And in January, Madison Square Garden group abandoned plans to build a new Sphere venue in London, after its plans were refused.