A campaign to “protect” Marlow from the proposed film studio development on the A404 has been backed by MP Joy Morrissey.

Save Marlow’s Greenbelt is a growing number of local residents from Little Marlow, Marlow and Bourne End who believe the building of a film studio near the Westhorpe junction in Marlow will be detrimental to the community.

On a recent visit to Spade Oak Lake in the Little Marlow Lakes Country Park, Ms Morrissey, MP for the Beaconsfield constituency posed with a 'Save Marlow's Greenbelt' banner.

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She said: “The residents and visitors of the Marlow area, are so lucky to have such beautiful natural spaces on their doorstep, it’s so important that we come together to ensure they are managed correctly and protected for future generations.

“During the last eighteen months these spaces have been so important for our health and wellbeing, for taking a break from everyday stresses to exercise, recharge and engage with nature”.

Bucks Free Press: MP Joy Morrissey holding a Save Marlow's Greenbelt bannerMP Joy Morrissey holding a Save Marlow's Greenbelt banner

In a letter to the Bucks Free Press earlier this year, Ms Morrissey wrote about the importance of protecting the countryside and green spaces which surround us in South Bucks.

Her letter read: “To see this all potentially threatened, should concern many of us. It is simply reckless to threaten the agricultural and ecological diversity which surrounds us at a time when we should be doing all we can to preserve our natural environment. We must therefore ensure that any reforms to planning, prioritises projects that take place on brownfield sites and protect greenfield and agricultural plots of land. Building on the Greenbelt and agricultural land should truly only be a last resort.”

Verity West, founder and chair of Wild Marlow, the local volunteer conservation organisation said: “Our Greenbelt between Marlow and Little Marlow, currently under threat from the huge film studio development proposal, is a wildlife and biodiversity rich area, supporting many protected and priority species. Industrial scale development is completely inappropriate and against the planning policies in place to protect our greenbelt and designated Country Park.

“We urge anyone who is not familiar with the area to see it for themselves to fully understand its value for wildlife and our wellbeing.”

However, Robert Laycock, director, and co-founder of the Marlow film studio project, believes the film studio will "utilise neglected land".

He said: "Our site borders the A404 and A4155 and is largely made up of former gravel quarries that has mostly been used for landfill and then capped with a poor grade of topsoil.

"The Marlow Film Studio proposals will utilise this neglected land to provide major benefits for the area including up to 5000 jobs, skills training, and business opportunities for the community and across Buckinghamshire.

"We launched our public consultation process in July and received a lot of positive feedback from local people.

"We are preparing to continue our consultation process with more events planned before the end of the year and look forward to once again hearing the community’s feedback."

Nine events were run across July by an independent company Soundings, aimed to gather feedback from residents of Marlow and Little Marlow about the proposed film studios and the issues important to them.

The feedback will be used by the film studio to inform the design process which will lead to the submission of a formal planning application early next year.

Stage Two of Soundings’ engagement programme will begin in the coming weeks with full details yet to be announced.