Skip to content

Film studio plans ditched due to 'uncertainty'

Stage Fifty An artist's impression of an entrance building with a sign saying Wycombe Film Studios. The round glass building has a sweeping roof that extends out over a road, held up by a V shape support. It looks very swanky. There are trees behind and lawn with shrubs.Stage Fifty
Buckinghamshire Council said changes in the film industry meant the Wycombe Film Studios plan was "unviable"

Plans to build a film studio have been abandoned amid market uncertainty, a council has said.

Wycombe Film Studios Ltd won permission in 2023 for the new movie-making site near Wycombe Air Park, which is owned by Buckinghamshire Council.

But the company – now known as Wycombe Park Ltd – was "unlikely to progress a film studio" due to the "landscape having changed commercially", the authority said.

The firm now wants to apply for permission to put a data centre on the site instead, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The unitary authority, which agreed to lease the land in 2022, said its tenant was "looking into ways to extract value from the site" and had determined its "best exit strategy" was to agree with the council to sell the site for use as a data centre.

It had been claimed the film studio project would support 1,200 jobs. However, conditions in the film industry have since changed.

Conservative council leader Martin Tett said: "The whole film and media sector, following the writers' strike and the actors' strike, has seen a significant contraction."

John Chilver, the cabinet member for accessible housing and resources, said: "The original intention of the tenant was to develop as a film studio site, but this has now proved to be unviable due to the change in market circumstances.

"So, the tenants now wish to put in a new planning application for a data centre site and are asking us as freeholders of the land to support them in this."

Cabinet members agreed at a meeting on Thursday the council should enter into a contract with the company to dispose of the site.

Stage Fifty An aerial view of architect's plans for the Wycombe Film Studios, as designed in 2023. There are a number of large white buildings that have the appearance of warehouses, with car parking around them and surrounded by trees. There is also a blue building in the middle, and a large lawn area.Stage Fifty
The original proposals included a film studio with eight sound stages

During Thursday's meeting, Mr Tett referred to Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner's decision to call in the rejected planning application for the proposed Marlow Film Studios development.

He said: "It is a very interesting demonstration of the existing finances of film studios because we have been castigated by the new government for having our planning committee turn down Marlow Film Studios' application."

The council leader also explained he had "strong views" on Wycombe Film Studios and wanted to make the best use of council and taxpayers' money.

The Planning Inspectorate's public inquiry into the council's decision to refuse Dido Property Limited permission to build Marlow Film Studios is set to begin on 21 January.

Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.

More on this story
Related internet links