Councillors vote down plans for film studios
Proposals for greenbelt development had received hundreds of objections
Objectors and councillors spoke out against controversial plans to build film and television studios in Holyport as it was unanimously rejected on Wednesday, writes Anaka Nair.
The application by Greystoke Land Ltd is for a studio and nature park on grade-3 agricultural land in the greenbelt off Gays Lane. It has attracted hundreds of objections from residents, many of whom packed into Maidenhead Town Hall to hear the discussion.
It was recommended for refusal by officers for nine reasons, including inappropriate development in the greenbelt, highway safety concerns and altering the character of the area.
At the Maidenhead development management committee meeting on Wednesday, Holyport resident James Camplin said during his 25 years working as a surveyor, the proposal was the ‘laziest’ he’d been asked to inspect and it was ‘wrong’ for the council to register it with ‘wrong, inadequate or absent’ documents.
Greystoke submitted amended plans and drawings in December 2023 but Mr Camplin said this didn’t include the ‘substantial roadways needed to access the northern half of the site’.
He added the ‘flawed’ application would ‘sever’ public footpaths, increase traffic throughout the country lanes ‘already at breaking point’ and had no evidence to support the flooding mitigation measures.
“You don’t need fancy drone footage to see how wet it gets. You only have to walk down the lane or look at Google Earth to see where the crops failed to grow,” he said.
Bray parish councillor Louvaine Kneen highlighted the ‘contentious’ nature of the application impacting land between Holyport and Fifield as ‘evidenced by nearly 400 objections’ and packed council meetings.
Highlighting the scale of the application, she said: “Some studios will be... higher than the surrounding trees and then you add lighting rigs which tower over the studio where the light will impact for many miles around.”
Cllr Kneen described the application as a ‘ploy’ for changing agricultural land to land with planning permission for commercial, industrial or residential use and it ‘set a dangerous precedent for building on the greenbelt’.
“In the 20-mile radius alone there are 10 studios. To dispel a myth that it will bring jobs, it’s well known that the industry uses specialist contractors brought in for each set so local job creation will be limited unless contractors live in the area,” she added.
Speaking on behalf of the applicant, Oliver Ralton described the ‘critical, urgent and national need’ for the application as the UK faces a shortage of studio space, and sound stage spaces for largescale productions are ‘exhausted’.
He said: “The film industry is growing so quickly globally that the UK will miss out on these opportunities unless we act now. We’re the generation that repeatedly sees investment opportunities missed and go to other countries instead.
He criticised the ‘limited weight’ given to the economic benefits and asked: “What is the bar if the development that has to be located in the greenbelt is nationally significant, produces exceptional ecological benefits, would provide £5million for education and training schemes for young people but generate hundreds of millions of pounds in both construction and in operation, cannot be approved?”
Councillors spoke against the application including registered speaker Cllr Suzanne Cross who said the application failed to comply with 10 policies in the Borough Local Plan and highlighted the impact on the great crested newts population.
She added: “Anyone who knows this area knows what misery the residents have to endure with the severe surface water flooding today and the impact this has on the already poor drainage system in the area.”
Registered speaker Councillor Joshua Reynolds (Lib Dem, Furze Platt) also urged councillors to ‘preserve the area for future generations, current residents of Holyport and residents in the borough’.
Voting panel member, Councillor Helen Taylor (tBfI, Oldfield) reminded her peers of a refused application by the Crown Estate for a temporary filming location because there were no very special circumstances.
Cllr Gary Reeves (Lib Dem, Cox Green) added: “There’s other areas of Maidenhead that are being protected because of the viewpoint of grade listed buildings so why should this be any different? If you were to look across those fields all you would see is what we see of Shinfield Studios. Massive buildings obscuring the view.”
Councillor Leo Walters (Con, Bray) quoted a Sky News article on the ‘grim reality behind the scenes of British TV and film studios’ and a Guardian article saying ‘studios are like ghost towns’. He described the economic benefits of local employment as a ‘red herring’.
The motion proposed by Councillor Gurch Singh (Lib Dem, St Mary’s) and seconded by Councillor Geoff Hill (tBfI, Oldfield) was voted unanimously in favour of the officers’ recommendations to refuse the application.