8140011584 Response Letter.pdf

17 April 2023
LGOIMA No. 8140011584
(Please quote this in any correspondence)

P Elliott
By Email: [FYI request #22140 email]

Tēnā koe P Elliott

Local Government Official Information And Meetings Act 1987
Permits issued for film and television

Thank you for your information request dated 18 March 2023, regarding film permits and
filming in the Te Henga Bethells Beach area. The specific details of your request and our
response is below.

Please advise the list of permits issued for film and/or television location activities on
public or private land in the Te Henga Bethells Beach valley and coastal area, since 1
January 2018.
Please advise the fees paid by permits approved and granted to production
companies (and the like) to Auckland Council for location services activities since 1
January 2018.

Please note Auckland Council only issues permits for filming on public open spaces. Filming
on private land does not require a permit but is subject to Auckland Council bylaws.
Please refer to the attached list of permits issued by Screen Auckland – a division of Tātaki
Auckland Unlimited (TAU) on behalf of Auckland Council, and the fees associated with those
permits.
The fees collected were in line with the schedule set out in the Auckland Film Protocol.
About 80 per cent of fees collected are transferred by TAU to Auckland Council at the end of
the respective financial year. The council then passes the fee revenue to the relevant
decision makers within the council group – which in the case of Te Henga Bethells could be
Waitākere Ranges Local Board, Auckland Transport or Regional Parks. That is in line with
the council’s intention for the bulk of permit fees to benefit the communities where filming
takes place. It is then up to the decision maker to spend the fee revenue how it sees fit.
Please advise if there are any other Auckland Council revenue stream attributed to
film and television location activities, other than permit processing.
For example, are there any lump sum or regular payments made by film and television
production companies (and the like) to Auckland Council.

Auckland Council does not receive any lump sums or revenue other than permit fees for
location activities. However, as operator of Auckland Film Studios and Kumeu Film Studios,
Private Bag 92300, Auckland 1142 |  aucklandcouncil.govt.nz  | Ph 09 301 0101

TAU earns revenue from licensing the studios to domestic and international productions.
Producers regularly augment their studio use with shoots in the region’s famed west coast
locations such as Te Henga Bethells. The availability of these unique ‘looks’ is often a
significant reason why producers choose Auckland as their main production base.

Apart from permit revenue, what tangible benefits are there to the Te Henga Bethells
Beach residents to grant film and television location activities to occur in the
community?
Is the impact of film and television location activities on the unique environment,
public amenities, roads and infrastructure commensurate with the location permit
fees (or other payments) received?

Auckland’s screen industry delivers more than $1.5 bil ion in GDP into the regional economy,
and many of the 8400 people employed across more than 2300 screen businesses reside in
the region’s west Auckland screen heartland – including some in the Te Henga Bethells
area.

Screen industry workers

Multiple generations of the local community work in the screen industry. Filming at Te Henga
Bethells allows them to work close to home, reducing screen productions’ footprint and travel
movements (both people and equipment) in and out of the area. These are valuable career
pathways for locals, according to Te Henga-based screen industry members.

Landowners

Several local landowners regularly hire their properties to screen productions of all types (TV
commercials through to large series and feature films) as bases for equipment and
personnel, and as filming locations – securing commercial fees which provide valuable year-
round income.

TAU has been told this has meant some local families have been able to keep their land
intact (as farms or undeveloped green space) rather than having to divide or develop. This
has helped retain the special features of Te Henga Bethells.

Donations to the community

Many screen productions develop a close relationship with the area, and have chosen to
donate to Te Henga Bethells organisations. For example, to the local surf club which needs
philanthropy to keep going. Productions also hire the surf clubrooms and engage the club’s
services for safety (e.g. a young lifeguard employed to support the production with H&S on
set, which in turn provides skil s development and income to the individual/club).

Productions engage with, and employ the services of, the local environmental group
(including as dotterel minders) to ensure environmental sustainability when filming takes
place on the beach.

Improvements

There are often improvements made to Te Henga Bethells (and other) locations by screen
productions. For example, if access for filming is not good enough, or may be impacted by
the production, the company involved may put down roading metal at their cost. This is a
positive legacy for locals.

Waitākere Ranges Local Board is involved in the approval process for film permits issued In
the Te Henga Bethells area where it is the ‘land owner’, and (as noted above) it receives a
portion of the film permit fees raised in its governance area to spend how it sees fit.
Private Bag 92300, Auckland 1142 |  aucklandcouncil.govt.nz  | Ph 09 301 0101

Auckland Council’s Auckland Film Protocol, last updated in 2019 in collaboration with
industry and approved by elected council ors, is designed to ensure that Auckland grows its
status as a global destination for screen production talent, investment and business, while
protecting the region’s environment, heritage and people.
Please refer to the publicly available protocol for: full explanations about council’s film permit
approval process; the film industry code of conduct related to filming in sensitive
environments etc.; and a schedule of council’s film permit fees.
https://www.aucklandnz.com/sites/build_auckland/files/media-library/documents/2019-
Auckland-Film-Protocol.pdf
The decision by Auckland Council to release the information contained in this response was
made by Pam Ford, Director Investment & Industry, Tātaki Auckland Unlimited.
Should you believe Auckland Council has not responded appropriately to your request you
have the right to seek a review of the decision from the Ombudsman.

If you have any further queries please contact me on 09 301 0101, quoting LGOIMA No.
8140011584.

Ngā mihi

Jenny Hua
Senior Privacy & Official Information Business Partner
Governance Services
Private Bag 92300, Auckland 1142 | aucklandcouncil.govt.nz | Ph 09 301 0101