Swindon air hangar to be turned into film production site

Wroughton airfield hangar which could soon become a hub for film production
Wroughton airfield hangar is to be used as a sound production site by Dignus Films after the council approved the film-making company's proposal Credit: LDRS

Plans to turn a Wiltshire airfield hangar into a film production site have been approved by the council.

Wroughton airfield will be the home of feature length films produced by Dignus Films, which intends the use the site as a movie sound studio.

The company was set up by writer and director Sean Robinson and producer Tyrone Edwards, who say they are keen for a long-term investment which will benefit locals.

Tyrone wants Wroughton to produce 10 feature length films within a 12-year period utilising hangar as the company’s main shooting stage.

It will also facilitate film sets, crew and equipment within the adjacent workshops.

The company said making films at the hangar would benefit the local economy when it initially applied to Swindon Borough Council’s planning department in January 2021.

Residents in Burderop, a nearby hamlet, believe that roads like this between Burderop and Wroughton will become congested with increased traffic demands. Credit: Google

Dingus Films said: "The proposed use will have a positive impact on the local supply chain with an estimated £60-£70,000 per production day being invested into the local and regional areas."

The investment into the site is expected to provide jobs but also increase traffic which concerns council officers and nearby resident.

One resident from Burderop, a hamlet to the east of Wroughton, said: "The reality is that another increase in traffic with the developing unsustainable traffic situation at Burderop on the lane to Barbury Castle is unfolding.

"How are trailers providing food for 150 people per day and trailers and HGVs articulated lorries etc to carry infrastructure going to access the site?"

Wroughton parish council raised no objection and when the film company wrote to the borough council to say while it believed the scheme would provide employment for up to 200 people at a time.

The council’s highways officers accepted that 100 people could be on the site at any time and that other employees could work off-site.

One officer said: "The film studios would generate relatively low levels of goods vehicle traffic, falling below the levels of HGV-traffic that would be expected were the hangar to be brought back into its historic and permitted use as a distribution warehouse."

Sean’s credits include 'Hamlet' starring Mel Gibson, the Kevin Costner smash hit 'Robin Hood Prince of Thieves', and Kenneth Branagh’s 'Frankenstein' which starred Robert de Niro.

Tyrone Edwards worked as an accountant before setting up the company with Sean and the pair are currently working on 'Midas', a UK-set thriller, currently in development.

Wroughton airfield was once used used as the track for the Jeremy Clarkson show 'The Grand Tour' from 2016 for three years.

Credit: Aled Thomas, Local Democracy Reporting Service

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