A controversial £750m plan to build a major new film studio campus on Buckinghamshire green belt has finally been waved through by the government.
Dido Properties has won its appeal for Marlow Film Studios after Buckinghamshire Council rejected the scheme in 2024 over fears of “spatial and visual harm” to the landscape.
The decision from housing and communities secretary Steve Reed landed just hours before the Budget following a five-week inquiry held earlier this year.
The 56-acre former quarry and landfill site next to the A404 at Little Marlow will now be redeveloped into an 18-soundstage production campus designed by architect Wilkinson Eyre, complete with workshops, backlots and a new skills academy.
Backers of the scheme include leading creatives such as James Cameron, who have been pushing for more world-class studio capacity around the West London film cluster.
Developers claim the studio will support 4,000 jobs and deliver £3.2bn in economic growth over its first decade.
They say the regeneration of the degraded landfill site, combined with plans for high sustainability standards and heavy investment in emerging production technology and AI, will help cement the UK’s position as a global filming powerhouse.
Marlow Studios chief executive Robert Laycock called the approval a “vote of confidence” in British creativity.
He said the campus would become a bespoke facility, leading in emerging technology and design that drives creativity and storytelling , adding that the decision would strengthen the West London film cluster and attract major inward investment.
Construction will tcreate 167,800 sq m of new studio space on the former gravel pits, with work expected to ramp up following planning conditions and legal agreements.
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