Permission to keep a Grade II* listed mansion, used in The Crown and Mission Impossible, as a film hub for 36 more months has been granted.
Hotel group Ralph Trustees Limited has plans to permanently turn Langleybury Mansion and surrounding parkland – near the M25 and Warner Bros Studios Leavesden – into a dedicated filming facility.
Three Rivers District Council approved temporarily using it for this purpose in 2021, without all the wide-ranging changes the applicant hopes to make, while a bid to transform it permanently is being considered.
- Mansion used for The Crown and Mission: Impossible could become film hub
- Plans for Langleybury Film Hub on The Grove estate
- Langleybury Film Hub masterplan unveiled by landowner
The initial temporary permission had a 36-month time limit, which would run out this September, while the larger bid is still under review. Therefore the applicant sought to amend this with a 36-month extension in April.
In its cover letter, planning agent Lichfields said: “The current delays to the determination of the application requires that measures are taken to ensure that the current temporary consent can continue lawfully beyond 3 September 2024.”
Langleybury Mansion, near Watford. (Image: IF_DO/Ralph Trustees Limited/Three Rivers District Council)
It added that discussions are “ongoing” between its client and Three Rivers District Council over the full set of changes, which include demolishing multiple buildings and building a café, car park, sound stages and other facilities.
Langleybury Mansion was once the site of a school and remains home to a children’s farm, which would be relocated on the plot with “improved facilities”.
The time limit extension was approved yesterday (July 23).
Langleybury Mansion, near Watford. (Image: IF_DO/Ralph Trustees Limited/Three Rivers District Council)
The historic home features in the music video to Adele’s Rolling in the Deep, as well as in Emmy-winning BBC drama McMafia, Kingsman, The Crown, and Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.
A design statement for the full project reads: “As vacant period mansions available for film production use become increasingly scarce due to repurposing and redevelopment, Langleybury Mansion remains an ideal, flexible blank canvas site for any period-based filming project.”
It adds: “The overall intention is to create a film hub like no other – one which builds upon the rich history of the Langleybury site and in a manner which is sensitive to the beautiful historic landscape which surrounds it.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel