Norfolk tyre mountain king's TV and film studio looks set for approval
A businessman's looking to create a TV and film studio in Tattersett
He is perhaps best known as the owner of a controversial mountain of tyres in Norfolk.
Now millionaire businessman Roger Gawn’s ambitions to diversify look set to go ahead and will see him switch from rubber into the silver screen.
His application to create a TV and film studio at his Tattersett business park has been recommended for approval by North Norfolk District Council officers.
He hopes to build a new facility that will include the creation of five stages for films to be shot at as well as eight workshops and production offices.
It is thought the project, located on a former RAF base, will cost between £50m and £100m. It could also create 350 direct jobs and a further 250 indirect ones.
Mr Gawn, who owns the Melton Hall stately home in Melton Constable, is best known for his vast tyre collection located at the same 37-acre site in north Norfolk.
This had numbered more than a million and has previously been described as an “environmental ticking time bomb” in the event of a fire.
But he is now in the process of removing the huge pile of rubber and has taken away a third of the tyres so far, according to officers.
However, villagers are concerned about the project after years of frustration that the tyres still have not been removed entirely.
Tattersett Parish Council have objected, fearing there is no guarantee the mountain will be removed.
It also said it has “little confidence” the project will be completed due to funding not being in place.
Environmental protection officers from NNDC have also opposed the scheme, predominantly due to noise concerns.
While the project remains contentious locally, planning officials have called for it to be approved providing more information is provided to show rivers will not be polluted through “nutrient loading” coming from the development.
Mr Gawn will hope his studio can capitalise on the growing number of productions being filmed in Norfolk.
A decision is due this week when councillors meet to discuss the application on Thursday (December 12).
Norfolk's Tyre Mountain
It has been described as a blight on Norfolk’s landscape, with its origins going back more than two decades.
It began in 1998 when a licence for a tyre collection business was granted at the site by the Environment Agency.
Over the years, it grew to a collection of about a million used tyres with reports saying they arrived in daily lorry loads.
Mr Gawn bought the site in April 2009 and vowed to finally bring an end to the infamous mountain.
But in 2015 NNDC served him with an enforcement notice to clear the site by November 2018 – which was not done.
Mr Gawn insists he has been actively clearing the site and about a third has now been removed.
He has previously said it will take time to complete and that Covid hampered his efforts.