A film studio is to be created at a vacant North Lanarkshire warehousing site.
Members of the council’s planning committee unanimously approved the change of use application for the units and land at Buchanan business park in Stepps.
It adds to the area’s existing screen links, with Cumbernauld facility Wardpark Studios being the home of historical drama Outlander while locations around the county have been used for a string of shows in recent years.
The site on Cumbernauld Road consists of warehouses, car parking and outdoor storage space and is currently unoccupied
Applicants Buchanan Tower Ltd asked to change its usage class from the current storage and distribution use to allow the film use only, with planners specifying that no other sort of industrial activity would be allowed on the site as the wider category “could be detrimental to neighbouring amenity in terms of noise, vibration, smell, fumes, smoke, soot, ash, dust or grit”.
Councillors were told in a report: “The studio will be smaller in scale initially with more warehouses and portions of outdoor space being utilised over time if the business is successful.”
Gartcosh, Glenboig & Moodiesburn councillor Greg Lennon queried at the hybrid meeting what public information had been communicated to local residents during the application process, and was advised that neighbour notification had been carried out along with publication of weekly application lists and press adverts.
One objection was received, citing concerns about the site’s designation for housing under the current local plan plus concern about the possibility of wider industrial use – but planners concluded that the film studio use was “an acceptable departure” and would be “significantly less intrusive” for neighbouring residents than the current storage use.
The report noted that the studio “is considered to have less implication for surrounding amenity; the units will require soundproofing to keep external noise sources out, which in turn ensures there is reduced noise nuisance for neighbouring properties.”
Council officials launched a new production charter last November, aiming to “put North Lanarkshire on the map” and promote it to crews seeking locations, and underlining its “commitment to encouraging film-making, which brings significant economic benefits for the area through jobs, contracts for local supply chain businesses and in-kind benefits”.
Scenes for the Batman movie, The Outlaw King and The Last Bus have been filmed in the area in recent years, while TV shows Vigil, Two Doors Down, Shetland and Scot Squad have also rolled their cameras in the area.
The local authority has a film liaison office named Lanarkshire Screen Locations, and filming took place last year in North Lanarkshire secondary schools, tower blocks, parks, business premises and a former court building.
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