A £1 billion film and television studio complex in North London has been given the go-ahead by Camden Council after a knife-edge vote, despite fierce opposition from residents and councillors who condemned its environmental impact as “disastrous” and raised fears over fire safety and the safety of children near construction traffic.
Camden’s Planning Committee voted 6 to 5 in favour of the Camden Film Quarter project at its first meeting since May’s local elections, in which Labour’s majority on the council was cut to 30 seats as the Greens and Liberal Democrats made significant gains. The slim margin reflected a doubling of opposition councillors on the planning committee, signalling a new era of scrutiny over major planning decisions in the borough.
Developer Yoo Capital — the firm behind the Olympia Exhibition Centre and Sky Garden — will now build 11 sound stages, education facilities and 485 new homes on a brownfield industrial site in Kentish Town, on land Camden Council earmarked for redevelopment almost a decade ago. Of the homes, 243 are classed as affordable. The scheme also includes new cycle lanes, pedestrian routes, public parks and on-site education for more than 500 students at the National Film and Television School and the London Screen Academy. The developer says it will create 1,365 construction and operational jobs. Planning officers described the level of housing provision as “very rare” for any development of this type. Production facilities will be run by Oxygen Studios, which was behind Longcross, Arborfield and Fairbanks Studios.
But 441 residents and local groups lodged objections, and the debate at Monday’s planning meeting was heated. Alice Brown, standing for the Green Party in the upcoming Regent’s Park by-election, called the scheme “disastrous” and “extreme,” pointing to greenhouse gas emissions and the diesel lorries required during construction — including for digging what she described as “obscenely large” basements. “The planners know this is a very damaging scheme but are under political pressure,” she said. Liberal Democrat councillor Tim Simon echoed concerns about the “substantial upfront CO2 impact” of the build.
Officers conceded the environmental impact would be “significant” and that greenhouse gas emissions exceeded council benchmarks — though they argued the development’s energy efficiency would reduce carbon emissions by 63 per cent over its lifetime, and that benchmarks “were not targets we need to meet.”
Opposition leader Cllr Lorna Jane Russell called the building a “monstrosity” that would overshadow protected views and objected to flats being positioned directly above a waste facility. Objectors had raised fire safety concerns in light of the recycling centre blaze in Bermondsey on 8 June and the increasing frequency of lithium-ion battery fires in waste streams. The project’s fire consultant said automatic detection machines would be considered to identify batteries before they reached waste compactors, while officers noted further regulators would need to approve the building’s design.
The Kentish Town Neighbourhood Forum raised fears that lorries travelling to and from the site would pose a danger to children near local primary schools. The Queen’s Crescent Neighbourhood Forum also claimed it was “almost certain” the studios would change use, citing Yoo Capital’s stated intention to sell them once built — a claim the developer denied.
Defending the project, Yoo Capital’s Lloyd Lee said the Film Quarter would bring together “community and industry,” while the scheme’s Camden-based architect, Trevor Morris, acknowledged local scepticism but described it as “a once in a lifetime opportunity to offer meaningful regeneration,” saying the structure would remain “firmly rooted in its local context.”
