Client
Makin Enterprises
Size
450 acres
Local Authority
Selby District Council
Sectors
Culture, Leisure, Sports and Tourism
Key Project Information
- Makin Enterprises is a family business based at Garforth in Leeds that took on the 450-acre former RAF Church Fenton aerodrome in December 2014.
- The site was already home to Yorkshire’s largest film studio, where parts of the hit TV drama Victoria were filmed.
- The project, Create Yorkshire, would build on the success of the Church Fenton Studios with the redevelopment of the major brownfield site within the Leeds City Region in order to provide enhanced opportunities for film and TV.
- Selby District Council unanimously approved the plans that would deliver economic diversity and new jobs.
We are absolutely delighted to receive the unanimous backing of Selby District Council on the next phase of this exciting project, which is set to change the creative landscape of the region. Create Yorkshire is an opportunity to attract unprecedented investment, growth and innovation and which we look forward to delivering the plans in the very near future.
Chris Makin – Makin Enterprises
We secured planning permission for a creative hub on land at the former RAF Church Fenton airbase and led a multi-disciplinary team that took the scheme from an initial concept to planning application.
Our experts delivered compelling masterplanning, in which making the economic case for the proposed development was one of the key parts of the application.
Our economics experts assessed the economic impact of developing a creative hub on land at the former RAF Church Fenton airbase, already home to Yorkshire’s largest film studio. The impact analysis focused on two main issues: Firstly, the importance of the digital and creative sector to the district, the region and the UK as a whole; and secondly, identifying the main economic benefits of the scheme (job creation, contribution to economic output, contribution to the Exchequer, impact on tourism and The skills agenda).
Detailed analysis was produced, looking at the benefits the scheme would create, and focused on:
- The importance of the digital and creative sector to the District, the region and UK as a whole
- Identifying the main economic benefits of the scheme
- Economic output
- Contribution to the Exchequer
- Impact on tourism
- The skills agenda
Yorkshire and Humber was the UK’s fastest growing region for film and TV, with industry growth rate more than double the national average. Between 2009 and 2015 it generated an annual turnover of £424m across 590 creative business. According to the Department for Communities and Local Government, the creative industries account for around 104,000 jobs in the region.
The development is split across two distinct areas.
The Northern Section – Create Yorkshire – targets creative, digital or media businesses and will make use of ‘green infrastructure’, with a central campus park at its heart. The provision of overnight accommodation is included, specifically for people using the creative hub and film studios. The new buildings will range in size, from large units, to smaller units suitable for start-up businesses.
The Southern Section – Studios – will be a studio area for commercial film-making. Currently Hangar 1 is used by Mammoth Screen for ITV’s Victoria production, along with the workshops and stores, which are being used as TV production facilities.
Hangar 2 and Hangar 3 will be converted permanently into further TV and film studios (termed ‘stages’) and additional built space could be provided within this studio area. Alongside this is retained aviation structures, in an ‘aviation hub’ that would operate in association with the runways and taxiways.
Project Gallery
