By Louise Scott
A film crew from Mission: Impossible 6 did not follow the rule-book when shooting near Queenstown.
Despite the "procedural oversight", the Queenstown Lakes District Council confirms New Zealand film company DWTT Productions escaped punishment.
Last month, Mountain Scene reported local photographer Blair Pattinson raised safety concerns about filming near Skippers Canyon bridge.
The council granted a filming consent to DWTT, a subsidiary of US movie giant Viacom.
Council regulatory manager Lee Webster said the production company "should have obtained a traffic management permit before filming around Skippers Bridge".
"While not ideal, such an oversight can be understood due to the organic nature of the needs of such a large production involving may moving parts."
DWTT could not be contacted for comment yesterday.
Webster said the council did "contact" the company but no action was taken.
"Had they applied for such a permit they would have had it granted, and it seems that under the circumstances, they managed traffic effectively and safely."
That contradicts concerns raised by Pattinson, a freelance photographer for Mountain Scene, who did not wish to comment for this story.
He witnessed manoeuvres by three helicopters over and under the Skippers Canyon Bridge for about 40 minutes on July 8.
At the time, he questioned why no traffic plan was in place to ensure public safety.
Filming of the Hollywood blockbuster was halted earlier this month after lead actor Tom Cruise (55) was injured during a stunt scene.
- Mountain Scene
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