There has been widespread support from within the film and television industry for a planning application to almost double the size of the Sky Studios Elstree complex which is currently nearing completion at Borehamwood.

Thirteen new sound stages are due to be fully operational by February next year at a cost of £230 million.

But even before completion of the first phase, planning approval is now being sought to construct an additional ten sound stages on 38 acres of adjoining Green Belt land.

Extra studio facilities are said to be needed if the UK is to continue attracting the production of international feature films and high-end television.

There has been speculation in the entertainment press that one of the first productions in the new Sky Studios will be the first of two planned Wicked movies – a Wizard of Oz spin-off – which will feature American stars Cynthia Erivo, who will play the Wicked Witch of the West, and Ariana Grande who will play the good witch.

American film and television producers are being attracted to Borehamwood – rather than Hollywood – partly as a result of government tax relief on international film and television production.  

At the September meeting of its executive, Hertsmere Borough Council agreed that its aim for 2022/27 was to ensure that Borehamwood became “the first-choice location” for inward investment in the creative sector.

Elstree and Borehamwood, which have deep roots in the film and television industry, might be the beneficiary of even greater expansion as there are long-term proposals for yet another complex of 21 sound stages which would become Hertswood Studios.

A six-week consultation period regarding the ten additional sound stages for Sky Studios – taking the total to 23 -- is about to close (31.10.2022).

Hertsmere expects to make a decision early next year on whether to give the go ahead. This computer-generated image illustrates the enlarged complex.

Documents in support of the planning application (22/1526/FULEI on Hertsmere Borough Council website) acknowledge that a further extension of the Sky Studios complex will have “some impact on the openness of the Green Belt”.

But the applicants argue that the farmland between the eastern boundary of Borehamwood and the A1 Barnet by-pass has “a low-medium landscape value”.

Potters Bar, the nearest neighbouring town in Hertsmere, is four to five miles away and is said to be separated by “a significant area of countryside”.

Under a previous plan, the five fields now earmarked for studios, were to become the site of a sporting academy with outdoor and indoor pitches.

This proposal was abandoned in 2014 by the landowners, Legal and General Investment Management, who have made this new joint application with Sky Studios.

In preparing their plans to expand the complex with another ten sound stages, Legal and General and Sky Studios organised local consultations during the summer.

A survey produced only 17 negative responses (25 positive, 52 neutral) and only two negative emails (37 positive, 14 neutral).

Support for the expansion has been registered by several industry-wide organisations.

International feature film and high-end television production in the UK is likely to generate £7 billion a year by 2025.

Film London says the extra stages at Sky Studios Elstree would make an “extremely significant” contribution to fixing the studio space deficit in London and the south-east.

In its new economic development strategy Hertsmere says the land needed for the first phase of the Sky Studios Elstree was removed from the Green Belt to safeguard jobs and Borehamwood’s future employment prospects.

Its top objective for 2022/27 is to “maximise investment into the borough through the growing film, tv and media industry” including Sky Studios; Elstree Studios, which have nine sound stages and are owned by the borough council; and BBC Elstree.

If Sky Studios do gain approval to expand their complex to 23 sound stages – and if a further 21 are approved for the land immediately to the north – Elstree and Borehamwood would be equal in size to Pinewood Studios and larger than Shepperton Studios.