Author: SMG

MarlowFM’s Malcolm Parr will be dedicating a show on Friday at 10 am to the Marlow Film Studio plans, as the planning application has been submitted.

The first half of the show will be dedicated to discussion with the developers, represented by Steve McAdam, the director of the “public consultation agency” Soundings, hired by Dido Property Limited (Guernsey). The second half will feature people from Save Marlow’s Greenbelt to discuss the impact of the proposed project and our main objections.

Listen live on FM 97.5 or marlowfm.co.uk this Friday from 10 am. Do show your support on social media (Facebook, Twitter) and tag @MarlowFM.

UPDATE: listen again on the MarlowFM website (Good Morning Marlow > Friday 27th May 10 AM show) or download the MP3.

Did you know our local greenbelt is a vital resource for numerous protected wildlife species? The land currently under threat between Marlow and Little Marlow is a rich mixed wildlife habitat including lakes, grassland, woodland and hedgerows.

Regular sightings and evidence include 3 species of owls, 7 species of bats, 3 species of wild orchids, hobby, badgers, kingfishers, otters, stag beetles, peregrine falcons, newts, kestrels, toads, red kites, hedgehogs, skylarks and many many more.

What happens when we remove their breeding and foraging habitats? Simple, they perish. Many species require a territory or vegetation/geology specific conditions to thrive. When these are removed the creatures can no longer exist.

The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. We must do everything we can to stop the decline, by safeguarding these precious habitats.

The State of Nature Report identifies UK wildlife in serious decline, with 1 in 7 species now at risk of extinction. Loss of habitat through development is a major cause. Only last week, the Office for Environmental Protection released a statement that existing laws are failing to slow the damage to land, air and water.

Go and admire our local natural diversity this spring. And support our cause to ensure it remains there for future generations to enjoy.

According to the pre-submission information, a sound stage at Marlow Film Studio will be about 5.5 double-decker buses long and almost 6 giraffes tall. And there will be at least 13 of those. These eyesores will be visible from far & wide, including Winter Hill and the Chilterns AONB. This is simply not suitable for Marlow’s Greenbelt.

Recently announced changes to local film studios show how the landscape is constantly moving and rapidly expanding. Or should it be contracting, given Netflix’s share losses?

In any case, Pinewood announced that its expansion plan, which received the green light from planning only last December will be changed. The “training centre and visitor attraction” is being dropped in favour of… more studio space.

Only last week experienced studio operator Stage Fifty announced plans to make its temporary planning application at the Wycombe Air Park in Booker permanent (for 5 years). This area was marked in the 2019 Local Plan as a strategic employment area (Policy HW15). The studio proposers are claiming that the plans are for a “world-class sustainable” film studio that would “establish High Wycombe as a hub for global film and TV production”. Does that sound familiar?

Both cases show that 1) planning proposals are readily altered or even made (partially) retrospectively and 2) there is likely to be more local studio space available, further smashing the windows of the economic case for a film studio in Marlow’s Greenbelt.

Volunteers from Save Marlow’s Greenbelt talked to the visitors at the Marlow May Fayre to explain all the threats to our local greenbelt. We were pleased to hear so much support for our cause – almost everyone opposed the developments. Thank you to everyone who stopped by to chat. We look forward to continuing to spread the word.

“Dear Marlow Film Studio neighbour in Little Marlow and Marlow,

We are very excited that there will be a filming of an action blockbuster at the Studio! We will be using the backlot (the one you usually walk your dogs in), which means we, unfortunately, have to close it for public access from tomorrow morning at 6 am until further notice. Please be aware that security patrols with dogs may be in operation 24/7.

Filming will also happen at night, with floodlights, so if you hear any shouting through megaphones, gunfire, explosions or sirens between 10 pm and 6 am over the next few weeks, please do not be alarmed. There is no cause for concern – it is all part of the excitement!

We are sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Warm regards from Oxfordshire,
the Dido Property Limited (Guernsey) Team”

If you do not want to receive this email, it is not too late. Support Save Marlow’s Greenbelt now.

PS: fiction? Not for the residents near Leavesden

All proposed facilities in our greenbelt, and especially the Marlow Film Studio project, will put further strain on the nearby Thames Water Little Marlow Sewage Treatment Works (LMSTW).

In 2017, Thames Water was ordered to pay a record £20 million fine for several discharges of raw sewage, including from the LMSTW. And it still happens: people get sick after a swim and last summer Little Marlow was flooded with sewage after a machinery failure.

Data from Event Duration Monitors at LMSTW (installed in 2018) shows a worrying trend of an increasing number of incidents and duration of sewage discharges:

Earlier in 2021, there was an equipment outage and Thames Water used their storm overflow tanks to minimise the sewage discharges, as described in their report to the March 2021 LMSTW Liaison Committee.

Clearly, there is limited to no additional capacity at the site. Working from home is having an effect (from the same report):
“Thames Water confirmed the normal diurnal patterns of peak flow in morning and evening had been replaced with 12 hours of higher flow rates.”

In other words: “higher flow” is now the norm, without additional industrial complexes. Will this photo from the Environment Agency in 2013 of the Bourne End Marina become a normal sight on our Thames?

Planning decisions are made for our county by Buckinghamshire Council. We have been hearing lately about Little Marlow Parish Council or Marlow Town Council being consultees for development projects but they will not be the bodies determining if planning permission is granted.

Local councils are generally entitled to have an opinion on projects and have a duty to represent the views and best interests of their area. Some Buckinghamshire councillors who sit on planning committees may have to be careful not to give an opinion in advance of receiving all the facts (in case they are considered to be “pre-determined”) but for councillors who aren’t members of a Buckinghamshire planning committee, this is not a relevant consideration.

Some councillors in the area have expressed an opinion, however, none of the Marlow Town or Buckinghamshire councillors have publicly shared their thoughts.

This is concerning as Marlow Town Council have apparently have had off-the-record meetings with developers at the Crowne Plaza hotel and received a tour of the site as part of the Community Board. There is propaganda about the proposed film studio being circulated to thousand of local residents by the PR agency working for Dido Property Limited (Guernsey) and some councillors have been involved in the Community Liaison Group run by the developers.

It is inconceivable that our elected representatives have no opinion about something that would so fundamentally change Marlow, especially after all the information they have received. Why won’t they share their views?

Write to your councillors, parish, town and unitary authority (Buckinghamshire) and ask them to publicly state their reasoned opinion. If Joy Morrissey MP can come out publicly to express her concern, why can’t they?

The Marlow Film Studio project, and other developments, claim they will provide jobs for local people but do we need more local jobs?

The Office of National Statistics provides data about the Wycombe District (the smallest granularity available in the dataset). In 2020, there were 98,000 jobs available. However, there were only 92,400 people wanting to work. That’s everyone who is “economically active”, which means people who work or people who are classed as unemployed (i.e. available for work). There is therefore a shortfall of over 5,000 jobs that have no workers available to do them.

In addition, Buckinghamshire only has an unemployment rate of 3% (data from February 2022). The national average is 4.3% and places like Birmingham are struggling with unemployment of over 9%.

This is not an area that needs job creation and building a studio here does not support the government’s Levelling Up agenda to spread opportunity more equally across the UK.

Some of the jobs that Dido Property Limited (Guernsey) have been claiming will be created here included chefs, accountants and teachers. Search Indeed.com for those jobs within 5 miles of Marlow and you will find hundreds available already.

Many local businesses are currently struggling to fill vacant positions. We do not need more jobs here. We do not need to sacrifice Marlow’s Greenbelt for it.