Marlow Film Studios: Harry Potter, Netflix and ‘grey belt’ feature in inquiry opening

Harry Potter, Netflix and Labour’s so-called ‘grey belt’ have been discussed in the opening arguments of the Marlow Film Studios public inquiry.

The inquiry began on Tuesday into the planning application for the film-making hub, which Buckinghamshire Council refused to grant permission for in May 2024.

The studios are proposed by Dido Properties Limited on land to the south of Marlow Road, next to the A404 Junction, a former quarry and land infill site, which is designated as ‘green belt’.

Dido’s proposals for the site were for a film studios measuring 168,718 square metres, including 18 sound stages and studios, 19 workshops and 1,117 car parking spaces.

The company appealed the council’s refusal of the plans over concerns the studio would be ‘inappropriate development’ in the green belt and the impact on local transport networks.

However, the film studios ‘could not be a better scheme in a better location’, according to Sasha White KC, a barrister for Landmark Chambers acting for Dido in the inquiry.

Addressing planning inspector Katie McDonald, who is holding the inquiry, he claimed in his opening remarks that Dido aspired for the site to become ‘the most successful film studio in Europe’.

The lawyer said the company’s business case ‘could not be more compelling’, claiming that there were 1.3 billion subscribers to on-demand streaming services worldwide.

He said this included 17 million homes subscribed to Netflix in the UK and also claimed the film and TV content industry worldwide was worth ‘a quarter of a trillion US dollars a year’.

He added: “The UK film industry has always been at the forefront of the world stage, alongside the US. Our cultural richness has attracted a wealth of creativity, with many of the biggest film and TV shows originating in the UK

“Such as, of course, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Downton Abbey, Paddington and Baby Reindeer.”

Mr White also repeated his arguments – disputed by wildlife campaigners – that the area of green belt proposed for the studios is of little benefit, being a former land infill site and ‘poor quality’.

Last month, the new Labour government classified land described as such as ‘grey belt’ as it finalised changes to the national planning policy, the NPPF.

It said development in the green belt would not be ‘inappropriate’ where land utilised ‘grey belt land’.

Mr White told the inquiry this was the ‘most significant’ relaxation of development in the green belt since the Second World War.

He concluded by saying this meant that the studios were ‘no longer considered inappropriate development’ in the Green belt.

Dido’s barrister was followed by Simon Bird, a barrister acting for the council, who pointed out how the council had previously approved plans for large developments in the green belt such as for Pinewood Studios at Iver.

However, Pinewood’s recent closure of its TV unit, which hosted shows such as RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, has been used as evidence for the decline of the UK film and industry and as an argument against the need for Marlow Film Studios.

Mr Bird also noted the council’s previous backing for Wycombe Studios, before the recent announcement this project would be abandoned and data centres pursued on the site instead.

The barrister also said: “The council does not accept that the greenfield site falls within the NPPF’s definition of grey belt.”

The ‘Save Marlow’s Greenbelt’ group said it objected to the film studios due to the loss of green belt land, the impact on highways safety and increased traffic congestion, the impact on local residents ‘including many vulnerable folk living in a nearby static home park’ and increased carbon emissions due to an inadequate provision of sustainable transport.

A spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “The huge boom in UK studio construction over the last five years was driven by a bubble in demand from streamers like Netflix and Amazon.

“The streaming bubble burst three years ago when the focus moved from growth to profitability. Fewer studios are now required.”

“The developers claim their studio is somehow special but even Pinewood has decided that there is insufficient demand to justify building the large extension for which they received planning permission in 2022.”

They added that US President Donald Trump’s newly-appointed ‘special ambassadors’ for Hollywood, Sylvester Stallone, Mel Gibson and Jon Voight, would mean more films being American-made, resulting in ‘even less need for Marlow Film Studios’.

The deputy prime minister and secretary of state for housing Angela Rayner will have the final say on the film studios at the end of the inquiry after calling in the application.