Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Coronavirus delays film studio plans
A decision on whether to allow Hollywood-style film studios to be built in Kent has been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Bosses want to turn the derelict Newtown railway works site in Ashford into a huge new complex featuring four studios, an 120-bedroom hotel, educational hub, film school and 303 apartments in the former engine sheds.
The £250m scheme had been recommended for approval and the developers were hoping to get planning permission at a meeting of Ashford Borough Council (ABC) yesterday (Wednesday), but all meetings have now been postponed by the authority for an indefinite period due to Covid-19. Quinn Estates has teamed up with regeneration specialists The Creative District Improvement Company (TCDI Co) on the project and submitted a planning application last year, saying the scheme will create 3,000 jobs.
But on Monday, ABC confirmed it had stopped all public meetings - days after a group of councillors asked bosses to pause all meetings in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. Before the meeting was called off, developers said they hoped to break ground by the end of this year, with the project scheduled for opening in 2021.
If the scheme is approved, entertainment giants including Netflix could take on the studios, which bosses say will house single camera feature film or drama productions.
In a statement released this week, the developers said: “Ashford’s Eurostar stop connects Kent with Netflix’s European hub in Amsterdam and France’s most popular network TF1 linking the UK with Europe in a post-brexit world, serving as the country’s creative linchpin and capitalising on the studio boom created by US streaming giants.”
In the application submitted to ABC last year, planning agent Iceni Projects says the studios will offer a first-class range of facilities over 7,440 sq m of space.
“In the single camera set-up, each of the various shots and camera angles are taken using the same camera, or multiple cameras pointed in one direction, which are moved and reset to get each shot or new angle,” it said. “Single-camera is mostly reserved for prime-time dramas, made-for-tv movies, music videos and commercial advertisements.
“Examples of this include: The Crown, Downton Abbey, Stranger Things, Mission Impossible or the Avengers.
“In recent times, major streaming services like Netflix have built their business model and entire platforms by developing original content around single camera feature films and drama productions.”
Built in 1847, the railway works site was created to serve the London Dover Railway. It grew over the next 100 years as it took on more work from Battersea and, although damaged in the Second World War, it remained a locomotive works until 1962 when the work was transferred to Eastleigh. Many of the buildings were demolished over the next 20 years and what remains is the shell of the original workshops. The site includes five Grade Ii-listed buildings and bosses say they will work with the University of Kent on the project to create a “highly diverse talent pool”.
As part of the scheme, the hotel, which would go over 18 storeys, would become the town’s largest building, featuring a conference centre, restaurant and 62 serviced apartments.
■ Last Wednesday, the controversial Conningbrook Park application was discussed at a meeting of ABC’S planning committee.
The plan - dubbed Large Burton - would see 725 homes built on land off Willesborough Road opposite the existing Little Burton estate in Kennington. But only a limited number of members of the public were allowed to visit ABC’S Civic Centre for the meeting and when a livestream set up to broadcast the meeting failed, it brought an early end to proceedings. Quinn Estates is behind the Conningbrook Park plan, which has faced opposition from residents.