It’s lights, cameras, inaction
Developers’ anger over lack of any decision on £200m film studio bid
DEVELOPERS behind a private multi-million pound bid to build a film studio in Scotland have expressed frustration with “nondecision” over planning consent.
PSL Land wants to build a £200 million film studios at Straiton, on the outskirts of Edinburgh, but the Scottish Government has not yet made a decision on the plan, after receiving a planning report before Christmas.
The team behind the bid, which includes special effects expert John Richardson and producer Jeremy Pelzer, said that after three years of negotiations and nearly £1m in costs, Scotland does not appear “open for business”.
PSL has now questioned whether the Government, whose Film Studio Delivery Group (FSDG) received a report from an independent planning reporter on the proposal on December 22 last year, is “supportive” of the film industry.
The candid statement also comes as the organisation representing Scotland’s filmmakers, the Association of Film and TV Practitioners in Scotland (AFPTS), criticised what they view as a “total lack of transparency” over the workings of the FSDG.
A statement from PSL Land Ltd said: “Now into three years of planning negotiations and nearly £1m in costs to date, a project that will deliver a £200m investment and 1600 jobs in Scotland with no state aid, requires examination of the ongoing length of the planning process.
“First and foremost a world-class film and TV studio, the development will provide an absolute guarantee Scotland will be elevated to its long-overdue position amongst creative nations.
“Responding to international film industry demand, as well as a desperate national need for a new-build facility of this scale, the opportunity, currently heading towards a third month of Government ministers’ non-decision, is causing investors to doubt that Scotland is open for business.”
The plan is opposed by the farmer, James Telfer, who lives on the targeted land, and other nearby residents. Although there are moves to extend the Wardpark Studios in Cumbernauld, the Pentlands plan remains the biggest Scottish proposal on the table.
The AFPTS has also been frustrated by the time taken to respond to a Freedom of Information request on the proposal and by the redacted documents it received.
A statement from it said: “We are deeply concerned by the total lack of transparency and non-delivery from the Film Studio Delivery Group, set up in 2013 with the single purpose of delivering a Scottish Film Studio.
“Why has it taken a full month and five days over the statutory FOI period to disclose almost completely redacted meeting notes, which should have been official minutes in the public domain?”
A Government spokesman said: “This is a highly complex planning application for a mixed-use development of which a film studio is only one part, and ministers are currently giving full and proper consideration to it.
“Every effort is being made to issue the decision as soon as possible.”