Plans to turn a mansion where The Crown and Mission: Impossible were filmed into a permanent film hub have been recommended for refusal.
Hotel group Ralph Trustees Limited said its plans would “seamlessly integrate” Grade II* listed Langleybury Mansion and surrounding parkland with film facilities, but Three Rivers District Council officers have said it would instead be “incongruous”.
The planning committee is set to make a final decision next Thursday (November 21) - ahead of which members were today (November 13) given a report recommending refusal.
Temporary permission for the site to be used as a film hub exists, but this does not allow for the wide-ranging changes the applicant hopes to make and expires in 2027.
The existing site – next to the M25 and Warner Bros Studios Leavesden – 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”.
Planned changes include demolishing buildings, building a café, a new car park, access alterations, and creating a reception inside the mansion. The application also seeks outline approval for workshop buildings, sound stages, support workshops, production offices, backlots and a training building.
Planning officers recommend that the proposal be rejected due to it apparently constituting inappropriate development in the green belt which would harm its openness, not fitting in with the historic parkland, and urbanising the area near Langleybury Lane.
The report also said that a financial contribution to improve nearby cycling and walking routes would be needed if the application were to be approved.
According to the developers, Langleybury Mansion is already being used for filming on an “ad hoc” basis.
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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 by the developer 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.”
Although officers make a recommendation, the final decision will be down to the councillors on the committee during next Thursday’s meeting.
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