Dear Editor,

I am hoping to give weight to the Letter the Week, dated April 5, concerning the proposed film studio in Marlow. This is aimed at those who think that such a project would enhance the area and provide thousands of jobs for local people.

I speak with the experience of working in such a place. I am now retired but for 40 years up to 2016, I ran a props company at Shepperton Film Studios. Although this was an exciting experience, there is very little glamour attached to the industrial side of the film industry. Film stages are quite unattractive buildings - they really look like warehouses. 

The manner in which films are set up creates a very transient situation. Mostly, in my experience, a stage and workshops are hired from the studio and the necessary technicians, craftsmen and artists, are brought in for the duration oft he production, after which the crew is disbanded. These very skilled people will often travel long distances from where they live to work on these productions. Because of such a transient workforce, studios become very messy and untidy places.

The offer of thousands of jobs for locals is totally unrealistic as they would all need to be very highly skilled and experienced.

With regard to the actual studio and in order to be functional, the stages would need to be very large and would be totally out of character in such a rural setting such as Little Marlow and would look like a factory site. A good example of how overpowering they might be can be seen in the recent extensive development of Shepperton Film Studios between the quiet villages of Laleham and Littleton in Surrey. According to Google, it is the second largest studio in the world. The Studio buildings now tower above the local houses like monsters. 

I am sure I speak for a lot of local people in saying that we do not want the possibility of this happening here so please vote against it before it is too late.

A concerned Flackwell Heath resident