Notes

on the film studio proposal from Julian Holbrook, Community

Councillor, Damhead and District Community Council.
Jim's situation was symbol of the whole community's vision and beyond. It about
protecting the farmer, his family and the land, the community. Scotland needs
to do more to protect good farmland and its farmers across Scotland. His site is
in the centre of Damhead. He attends all community meetings. He is a part of
the community. We all support him. etc
Comment placed in Facebook page Protecting Damheads Greenbelt 30/12/15
For anyone not aware, the footprint of the studio proposal application is bigger than the whole of
existing retail park at Straiton. It will dwarf the Ikea building in terms of scale. And we are told
filming will stop at 5pm. Really? Not according to film industry practitioners. No way! Be in no
doubt, the proposal will sit in the middle of a rural community, visible for miles. Why, when the
local community at Damhead already has a well crafted vision to 2030 of the changes that it
wants to see and how it wants to get involved. This had been endorsed by Midlothian Planning
Partnership and heralded by them as a positive approach by a community trying to make real
local livelihoods based a sense of community, culture and local land assets. Even other
communities have been inspired by our plan. This is exactly what Scottish Parliament is
encouraging communities to do. Get involved, be creative, drive local change for the benefits of
local community and business. Use the assets you have, develop capacity, Go for it. Think fairer,
healthier, greener, smarter, safer and wealthier Scotland. We did and drafted our plan.
The land in question is a national asset, is productive and cared for, not just by the farmer and
his family, but our whole community. It is vital to our community. The film studio proposal to is sit
on top of a rural community, displacing people and destroying the long term integrity of all local
systems. As such it is an example of the contempt that industrialised, urbanised, minimal self
type attitudes have for farmland, farming, community and sustainable stewardship. Such
proposals need to fit the locale in all its dimensions. The community case is a symbol of the new
Scotland, the one that more people across Scotland are waking up to. We can make a better
future for ourselves. This case is about better and real futures being undermined by outside
parties with money, power and influence, without heart heart. For the community of Damhead, in
which I live, its a case of soil, soul and society.
As Naomi Klein states in her book on climate change, 'This changes everything'. Ever wondered
how it all happens? Its proposals like the one we are facing that changes everything. We wont
let it happen. There is much to lose. Please pass on news of the petition urgently. Thanks

My objection submitted to the Reporter on 28/12/15
To whom it may concern,
I am writing to object to the proposed film studios.
I have been a resident of Damhead since 1996. I have brought up my four daughters here. Damhead
is home. We love it. It is a special place. As a community, we have come together to create a vision

of a different future than the one that was being painted for us by others that live and work outside
of the area. Our vision is contained in our Neighbourhood Action Plan a copy is attached.
This plan is our voice. Through an extensive process we crafted this vision to share with others. The
vision is positive, community led, aspires to create many locally based small businesses that best fit
the place, the culture, the soil and the land.
Our vision is to enhance the rural character of the area offering real and local livelihoods. We were
very proud when Midlothian Community Planning Partnership approved and gave strong support for
our plan, which they held up as different, positive, forward looking, engaging and long term. Please
do take time to read it. For us it is a start. We recognise the need to become resilient as climate
change will affect us all. We believe our area can provide an essential part of the Edinburgh Food
Belt, producing local food, strengthening local economy, tourism, and the food and drinks industry.
We are so looking forward to working with the Lothian Councils, community planning partners and
others, but especially connecting with many neighbouring communities to implement our vision.
In the meantime, we have faced recent planning approval for 10 acres of good farmland to be
covered in rubble as a form of agricultural improvement, the proposed cutting down of around 1000
mature trees (100 years old) for a hotel, and a large area of new house building on prime farmland.
We are also faced with a Draft Local Plan that proposes the realignment of the A701 which will
dissect our community area, with huge local loss of yet more green belt, more housing, employment
land, and retail.
Our area is actually quite small. The film studios proposal comes on top of all the above change
(actual, planned and proposed).
Our community is suffering as a result. When we set out to create our Neighbourhood Action Plan,
we wanted it to support and be connected to Scottish Governments goal for a fairer, healthier,
greener, smarter, wealthier and safer Scotland. It supports the work Government is doing on
community empowerment, local regeneration, fairness, climate change, soil protection and place
making.
The film studio proposal has come out of nowhere, bears no link to sense of place, history, culture,
people, or potential of Damhead. It is a massive proposal in scale given the small mosaic and
dispersed housing in our area. It has been designed by parties external to the area with no
connection or respect to the locality, the people and local businesses. Above all it is in direct
contradiction to the community vision and Neighbourhood Action Plan.
Instead of place making, the film studios, if given the go ahead will be a case of place killing.
Our community is not averse to the need for Scotland to have a film studio. We are aware of the
great efforts of both the industry and Scottish Government over the last few years to find a good
and effective home for one. There is no reason in terms of national interest why it has to be built on
top of a community and prime farmland in an area that has already clearly stated its future. We
want to help make the positive change that is our vision, not suffer someone elses disconnected
vision.

I fully support and agree with the comments of objection made by Damhead and District Community
Council which have been submitted to you.
Kind regards
Julian Holbrook
Citizen, active member of the Damhead community, resident, smallholder, father.
Comment from our Community Councillor Julian Holbrook:
"The proposed film studio would go completely against the vision of the Damhead
community as contained in its Neighbourhood Action Plan which was endorsed and
supported by Midlothian Community Planning Partnership in January 2014. The community
publicly launched its exciting, bright and bold vision in May to a full meeting of people that
live and work in Damhead, from neighbouring communities and representatives from partner
organisations. The Action Plan has been held up by others as a great example of what
communities can do to help influence change and sustainable development in their area.
This vision, created by the community over a period of two years of effort gives a clear
picture of the type and scale of development that the community would welcome or pursue.
Damhead is unique in its position in relation to population centres and has an open rural
landscape consisting of good quality farmland that should be kept as such to provide local
food and access to greenspace. Damhead is the green gateway to Midlothian. The
community is looking towards sustainable development patterns such as land based
businesses that create local jobs that are linked to the quality and nature of the land
resources and that provide benefits but which also help to tackle climate change, food
security, rural tourism, contributing to local food markets and increase the resilience of the
area and community in the long term. There are huge opportunities such as being an active
demonstration of the Edinburgh Food Belt.
However, the film studio does not meet any of these aspirations and will in fact take away
many options for Damhead to do its bit to meeting Scotland's national outcomes through
the community empowerment and community planning processes and building local
communities. The scale and nature of the studio proposal totally goes against Damhead's
heritage and future prospects. It will destroy significant assets, such as farm soils that
cannot be replaced - ever. It will affect everyone who lives in Damhead. But it will also affect
others in neighbouring areas through increased traffic, pollution, noise, urbanisation and
contribution to greenhouse gas emissions on a huge scale.

Other notes
We need the farmland of Damhead because:
It has been classified by Scottish Government as prime agricultural land.
There is only a limited amount of this in Scotland (8%)

Much of it lies adjacent to settlements and so has traditionally been built on, degraded or forgotten
whilst developers speculate on land prices to the extent that the land is too costly now to acquire for
farming by those that wish to do so.
The farmland of Damhead used to be market gardens providing food for neighbouring settlements
mainly Edinburgh.
Much of the land in Damhead is still used for farming. But there are few small family run farms left.
The community has a vision that the land will once again be used to feed Edinburgh and other
settlements. The vision is to be a part of the Edinburgh Food Belt. To progress we need to keep all
existing farmland as farmland. We need to support local farmers. We need to develop local food
systems and economies.
Regardless of the Paris agreement on climate change, the current promises from the 180 countries
that tabled national plans for reducing emissions will mean a global temperature of over 2.7
degrees. Two degrees has been agreed as the threshold for dangerous, irreversible climate change.
This is serious. We will need to ensure food security, not by grabbing land abroad or strengthening
dependency on food imports, but by enlivening our local systems connecting producers and
consumers. An Edinburgh Food Belt will help. But we must not concrete over the farmland and kick
of the farmers or prevent farmland from being productive by development speculation and inflated
land prices.
The 2.7 degrees ahead of us means that countries will need to do more to reduce emissions and also
gear themselves up for a significant amount of damaging and unavoidable locked in climate change.
We have locked in climate change for two reasons. The first is that there is a 40 year time lag in
seeing a difference in climate/weather systems after a reduction in emissions. Secondly, the
infrastructure decisions, and this included land use change, means that we will reaping the results
for many decades of roads, building, houses and loss of farmland etc that tie us into a world
dependent on fossil fuel and the need to travel, commute, move products around.
Changing weather patterns, floods, droughts, storms, waterlogged soils are all having an effect on
the ability to grow and harvest food, the increase in food prices and growth in food poverty, where
more and more people do not have access to affordable, nutritious food. All this is happening in
Scotland too! There is a massive increase in food banks across Scotland. Food security has been
identified as a climate risk by Scottish and UK Governments.
This is why we must protect the good farm soils, especially those that are near populations. It is why
we need to keep farmers and support them. These are national assets. It is in the national interest.
The Damhead Film Studio proposal boils down to:

Placing a whole package of structures (studio, hotel, data centre etc) on good quality
farmland, when in fact this package should be built on other forms of land
Doing this when the main film industry in Scotland is in the west.
Displacing a long established farming family (100 years) that wishes to continue farming the
land

Destroying the vision of the local community that recognises the national interest in caring
for the soil is towards productive food growing.
This is a clear example of an externally driven want for something, framed by developers
against a local community that has already made up its mind collectively about a different
future built around the nature of the land, what its good for, the people, their past, present
and future, and how best the community can also serve national goals.

There are other places that may well benefit from the film studios in terms of location, jobs, services,
use of land, juxta positioning to reduce commute etc.
Investing in Scotlands future is not just about creating jobs anywhere for the sake of it or because
we can. It should be about creating and supporting right livelihoods, in the right places, making the
most of local situations and resources in terms of place and people. And doing this without
compromising future options in the light of rapidly changing climate that may yet become
dangerously abrupt within the lifetime of many alive now.