Talk of the planned facility, at Te Awanga Downs, isn't new. Nor are the reasons for the resistance. Photo / Warren Buckland
Talk of the planned facility, at Te Awanga Downs, isn't new. Nor are the reasons for the resistance. Photo / Warren Buckland
Not in my backyard.
No, it appears that a vocal and motivated minority will do all it can to stop Hawke's Bay ever having a state-of-the-art film studio.
Talk of the planned facility, at Te Awanga Downs, isn't new. Nor are the reasons for the resistance.
For as long asanyone, anywhere in this country has sought to develop something, nearby residents have said no.
I won't go too deep into the weeds here about the economics of the situation. Basically, tens of millions of dollars will be spent to build secluded studios on pastoral farmland which, in theory, should reap multiple benefits for Hawke's Bay.
Auckland-based No.8 Studios are behind the project, with American network HBO said to be among those very interested in using the facility itself and the surrounding area as film settings.
Academy Award-winning director James Cameron apparently booked out the Cape Kidnappers resort not long ago as part of a trip to scout locations in the area.
Whether the studio, which would be home to 70 full-time staff, is ever built remains to be seen. In peak filming periods, several hundred people would be on site, presumably boosting the local economy in a big way.
As with any type of projection, that all remains to be seen.
For now, the issue is Parkhill Road and a paper road that'll have to become an actual road in order for the studio to be built. Residents don't want that to happen and that means it hasn't.
Yet.
The road is no newsflash. Facilities such as the Outfoxed outdoor adventure business and the Clifton County Cricket Club, which already exist on the property, have been specifically situated adjacent to the paper road.
The film studios, as I understand it, would be on land behind Outfoxed and remain unseen by anyone in the vicinity.
I was about to say this is an emotive issue for those poised to have a road run past their place but then is there actually anything that's not an emotive issue these days?
Some people don't like farmland being developed. Fair enough. But a boutique film studio is probably better than a housing development of a few hundred.
Other people are still irate about the whole MIQ thing and foreign film crews, DJs and the like gaining places while ordinary Kiwis could not.
Having the Hawke's Bay powers-that-be bow down to the wants of a few more creative types would potentially inflame people too.
But what about the rest of us? What if we do want a multi-million dollar studio? What if we do yearn to see Hawke's Bay locations in Hollywood films?
Do we get a say in this or are we subject to the tyranny of the few?
Among the issues this country faces is that people don't believe they're being heard. The voices of the vocal minority, determined to tell us what we can and can't do, are downright deafening - but what voice do we have?
This Te Awanga farmland will be developed one day, presumably for housing. And, when it is, only a few people will benefit.
But a successful, sustainable film studio could be a boon to much of Hawke's Bay for generations to come.
Should one or two residents really have the power to decide that?
