Marlow Studios says work underway despite footbridge delay concerns

Marlow Studios has said it has begun work to bring the new studio to fruition – in the face of suggestions work could be delayed by highway issues.

The studio plan was approved by the Government last year after it was ‘recovered’ at the appeal stage, having first been refused by Buckinghamshire Council in 2024.

Highways impacts have been an ongoing concern, and as such, the scheme includes major improvement schemes.

Early community engagement by Marlow Studios acknowledged the need to improve access over the A404 into Marlow.

Developers committed to multi-million-pound investments in various infrastructure, including a replacement of the ‘Volvo’ footbridge – so called because of its proximity to the former Volvo site.

The current bridge is the main pedestrian link to Marlow town centre – but is stepped and therefore inaccessible for cyclists or wheelchair users.

When the studios development won permission to go ahead, replacement of the Volvo bridge was included as a condition for that approval.

A new footbridge – usable by cyclists and meeting accessibility standards for disabled people – ‘is necessary to make the development acceptable,’ the decision reads.

The Government was very clear on this point; ‘no development shall commence’ until planning permission has been granted for a replacement Volvo bridge, it said.

But the planning application for the new bridge (24/07177) suggests that the path ahead may not be straightforward.

It has been in Buckinghamshire Council’s planning system since October 2024 and is still yet to be decided.

The last word on it was from National Highways in January, and it is not exactly favourable.

National Highways is a key statutory consultee on major road schemes, and responsible for this part of the road network.

The view of National Highways carries substantial weight, especially where safety or capacity of a major road like the A404 is involved.

Though the body has not said the application for the new Volvo bridge shouldn’t go ahead, it has said that permission should ‘not be granted’ yet.

This is due to a lack of important documents showing that the replacement footbridge ‘is deliverable’.

There is still ‘a number of outstanding technical assessments and approvals’ to be agreed, National Highways wrote, including structural assessments and possible environmental assessments.

As such, National Highways suggested permission not be granted until at least April 13.

Though this is close by, this may not be the end of it; the same letter has been logged several times, pushing back the date.

In February 2025, National Highways suggested delaying permission for several months, and has repeated this five times since then.

Onlookers, including campaign group Save Marlow’s Greenbelt (SMG), feel that the number of issues raised in Buckinghamshire’s planning portal – and the length of time this application has been under consideration – ‘suggest a level of complexity’ that could delay the studios.

A spokesperson from Marlow Studios said it has ‘already begun work to implement’ the scheme, which at this point includes various pre-construction assessments.

‘A number of announcements’ will be made over the course of 2026 and beyond, the spokesperson added.