Film and TV studio proposed for Nirah aquarium site in Stewartby

A former quarry pit, once earmarked for a giant aquarium project, could become a film and television studio.

Home of Production (HOP) wants to build production offices, workshops and screening rooms on the old Quest Pit site in Stewartby, Bedfordshire.

A £600m aquarium plan for the site was shelved in 2015 after about £5m of public money had been spent on it.

Plans for the studios have been on display at Stewartby United Church, and at Bedford Corn Exchange on Thursday.

The former clay mineral quarry on Ampthill Road, about five miles (8km) from Bedford, opened in 1983 and was the last active brick pit in Bedfordshire, extracting Oxford Clay. It stopped operating in 2008.

The clay produced on-site had been used to make bricks at local brickworks.

HOP said its proposal for the site also included a backlot, timber yard and storage facilities.

It said the studio plan was "designed to be efficient and promote the wellbeing of cast and crew for each and every production".

"On-site accommodation and creche, a rewilded water body, a central boulevard and canal will create a healthy and sustainable working environment," a statement said.

"The proposed world-class onsite facilities will also reduce reliance on deliveries and minimise impact on local roads."

The National Institute for Research into Aquatic Habitats (Nirah) was given the go-ahead to build an aquarium on the site in 2007.

The facility, which was originally expected to cost £375m but rose to about £600m, was mooted as a scientific research centre and visitor attraction four times the size of the Eden Project in Cornwall.

It was supposed to have been built by 2012, but a lack of investment and delays led to nothing being built.

Planning permission expired in 2014 with £1.6m owed to the former Bedfordshire County Council and more than £3.5m owed to central government.

Details of how residents can comment on the proposals are available on the HOP website.

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