Written by on Jan 9, 2012. Posted in Production News

Wildlife issues threaten UK location filming plan for Ron Howard F1 feature

Filmmaker Ron Howard may have to abandon plans to film on location near Reading in the UK. The director had wanted to build a set on Blackbushe Airfield to film his new Formula One feature Rush, but local conservation issues mean the project might have to go elsewhere.

Environmental agency Natural England is concerned that set construction and filming will disturb three species of local birdlife. The timber set was scheduled to be built this month, so a delay may force the production to find an alternative.

The planning applicant would be expected to establish what the impact [of location filming] might be and how they would propose to mitigate this impact.

Natural England

A spokesman for Natural England commented to the BBC: “If a proposed activity such as creating a film set is likely to have an impact on a protected site then the planning applicant would be expected to establish what the impact might be and how they would propose to mitigate this impact.”

Rush tells the story of the 1976 Formula One title race between James Hunt and Niki Lauda, which was an infamous rivalry in the motorsport’s history. The film's currently in production on mainland Europe.

(Image copyright: Rodrigo de Almeida)