Plans for a multi-million-pound film studio on Greenbelt land in Marlow have been given a thumbs down by readers of the Free Press.

Members of the Marlow Town Council electorate headed to the polls on Thursday (May 9) in a special one-off vote to express their support or opposition to Marlow Film Studios.

The poll, which asked residents whether they wanted the studio to be built and if they would support development on the greenbelt on the proposed project’s scale, was resounding in its disapproval, with 85 per cent of over 2,000 participants saying they don’t want the plans to go ahead.

However, Robert Laycock, CEO of Marlow Film Studios, pointed to a low voter turnout for what he viewed as an inaccurate representation of local consensus towards the project.

Ahead of the poll results being published on Thursday night, we launched our very own vote on the film studio plans – putting the simple question to our readers: Do you support plans for a film studio in Marlow?

The votes of our poll are now in and reflect a similar decisiveness to that seen in the parish results.

90 per cent of 1,776 voters said they did not support the plans, while just 10 per cent said they did, and no one chose the third option of ambivalence.

Both findings are in disparity with a third poll, commissioned by the studio developers earlier this month, which indicated that 78 per cent of 500 respondents in Bucks, 152 of whom lived within 5 miles of the development site, were behind the project.

In a statement on Friday, Mr Laycock argued that the parish poll – voted for at a parish meeting in April – was “initiated by groups who want to use this mechanism to suggest widespread opposition” to the planning application.

Bucks Free Press:

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Marlow Film Studios

He added: “We respect their rights to express views and are also grateful for those voters who support Marlow Film Studios.

“Independent parallel polling carried out over the last week in a 5-mile radius of the Marlow Film Studios site indicates that over 80 per cent of local residents within a five-mile radius of the studios surveyed support the film studios. 

"They know the benefits that our proposals will bring to the local area in terms of long-term careers, jobs and economic prosperity."

However, Joy Morrissey MP, who has been vocal about her opposition to the project in the past, said: “For over 2,000 residents to vote in such a small five-hour voting window with no postal votes available shows that this is an important issue to the local community.

“85 per cent of those residents voting to say they do not want the development to go ahead is a decisive message.”

Bucks Free Press:

Although Marlow Town Council can comment on the film studio planning application, it will fall to Buckinghamshire Council, as the planning authority, to make a decision about the project.

The council chose to defer an approval or rejection of the plans during an initial meeting in October to allow for further assessments of the potential environmental impact and highway issues.

If approved, the studio would be built on land to the south of Marlow Road by the A404 junction at Westhorpe Park.

In February, developers unveiled a £20 million investment into local transport infrastructure as a means of addressing concerns, but the new plans have been met with dissatisfaction by Bucks Council’s highways arm.

Although it is subject to change, the Free Press understands the Strategic Sites Committee will reconvene to make a decision about Marlow Film Studios on Thursday, May 30.