Angela Rayner will step in to decide Holyport Film Studios plan

The Deputy Prime Minister will be stepping in personally to decide the fate of the controversial Holyport Film Studios application.

Angela Rayner is also the Secretary of State for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), in charge of national policy surrounding planning decisions.

The plan for Holyport Film Studios includes 20,900sqm of film and TV studio floorspace, plus sound stages, a virtual reality studio, workshops, specialist studio facilities and 2.9 acres of outdoor film backlots.

This plan was originally rejected by RBWM – but the applicants, Greystoke Land Ltd, took the case to appeal.

This is the second time this month Ms Rayner has stepped in to determine a local application.

She also announced she would be determining the Marlow Film Studios application, which was refused planning permission by Buckinghamshire Council and has also gone to appeal.

Ordinarily, such appeals are decided by an inspector within the Planning Inspectorate, an executive agency of MHCLG.

But the Secretary of State can ‘recover’ a planning appeal and determine it themselves – normally only ‘if the application conflicts with national policy in important ways, or is nationally significant.’

Instead of an inspector making the decision, they will write a report making a recommendation on how the appeal should be determined. This will then be passed to the SoS, who will 'take into account' the inspector’s recommendation.

After winning the election, the Labour Government made it clear from the get-go that it was taking an active interest in planning matters of national interest – including stepping in where it felt necessary.

The Government has been particularly concerned by greenbelt designations causing significant or important schemes to be rejected.

Because of the potential economic benefits of film studios, these are one of several examples of infrastructure projects where the Secretary of State may step in to decide.

Proposals for Holyport Film Studios were originally rejected by RBWM in March after receiving nearly 400 public objections.

Councillors had doubts about its economic necessity, were concerned over the impact on the greenbelt and feared the site might exacerbate flooding issues in the area.

The applicant, Greystoke Land Ltd, took the case to appeal in August, saying the harm identified by RBWM was ‘exaggerated’ and that the council ‘ignored the compelling evidence base in support of the application’.

Since then, the appeals process has rumbled on in the background, with scores of documents being uploaded to RBWM's planning portal (reference number 22/03374/OUT).

In the latest major development, a letter was uploaded today (October 21) in which the Planning Inspectorate confirmed that Ms Rayner will now be determining the application.

This is because it includes ‘development of major importance' and ‘proposals for significant development of the greenbelt.’

She will be casting a lens on the economic need for these studios and whether ‘very special circumstances’ apply – these justify building on the greenbelt.

Local opinion remains strongly against the studios. Bray Parish Council is among those making representations against the plan.

Meanwhile, a GoFundMe page raising money to hire specialists who can help argue a case against the studios has fetched almost £22,000.