Proposals for a studio development close to Marlow will now be considered at ministerial level.
Plans submitted by Marlow Film Studios were rejected by Buckinghamshire County Council following a lengthy meeting to discuss the matter. The £3.5 billion proposal to build a new studio complex on the site of a former quarry had already been revised and included investment in local infrastructure aimed at mitigating traffic concerns.
The studio had received backing from Oscar-winning director James Cameron, who marked the development as a potential future European home for his LIGHTSTORM 3D company, but local authority planning officers recommended against the facility on environmental grounds.
In August, the team behind the proposals issued a statement confirming it intended to appeal to the UK Planning Inspectorate, requesting a public inquiry. Planning Inspectorate documents show that the inquiry has now been approved, with a call for statements and comments to be made by November 4th and all evidence provided by December 17th.
No date has been set for the inquiry, but it is thought it will take place early next year. Any decision to either uphold or overturn the council’s opinion would likely be a considerable amount of time after the inquiry’s conclusion, but it could be ‘called in’ at any time by the UK Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Governance, Angela Rayner MP.
