Proposals to film near ancient site provoke criticism over possibility of undiscovered archaeological remains and disturbance to threatened species

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Objections have been raised to plans by Steven Spielberg and Sam Mendes to film a first world war drama on Salisbury plain, not far from Stonehenge.

Entitled 1917, the film is Mendes’s first directorial job since his second Bond film Spectre (2015), and Spielberg’s production company Amblin Entertainment won the rights to finance it in June 2018, with filming due to begin in April.

In an application to Wiltshire council’s planning department, Amblin asked permission to film for 35 weeks on Salisbury plain, large areas of which are designated for military training purposes.

The application included a request to “include construction of set and use of adjacent land for support services, associated storage and parking” for up to 500 people. A planning support statement says the main activity will be the construction of a temporary French farmhouse set.

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Wiltshire Council Archaeology has criticised the proposals for not taking into account the possibility of undiscovered remains “[that] have not previously been identified, perhaps as a result of cultivation, lack of access or vegetation cover”. Wiltshire council’s landscape and design department has also requested further investigation after establishing that numerous protected species have been recorded on the site, including stone-curlew, fairy shrimp, marsh fritillary butterfly and badgers. Areas immediately adjacent to the site are designated as “priority habitat” calcareous grassland.

Wiltshire museum said it “welcome[s] the prospect of a major film being made in Wiltshire, but wish to ensure that the archaeology and environment is protected”.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The filming location is more than five miles away from the world heritage site Stonehenge. Photograph: Blackbeck/Getty Images/iStockphoto

However, museum staff have criticised a newspaper report claiming the filming location is two miles from Stonehenge when in fact it is more than five miles away, and “well outside the boundary of the Stonehenge and Avebury world heritage site”. The Wiltshire archaeological and natural history society has insisted a full archaeological survey be carried out before any construction is allowed.

Complaints from a number of local residents were also submitted, including a claim that filming would bring an “intolerable burden on local communities already suffering from overwhelming traffic”.