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An Auckland couple say they feel like they are part of a Hollywood movie about a group trying to protect their home from invading aliens.
The $60 million movie, starring teen sensation Ashley Tisdale, is being filmed in a manor house 500m from Elizabeth and Robin Bell's home
in rural Coatesville.
Since filming began early last month, they have asked the Rodney District Council to protect them from nights of broken sleep. "We are on the hill and get glare and noise," said Mr Bell. "Last night the lights came on at 9.15pm and were still going at 1.30am. I don't know what time filming finished."
Mr Bell said the council put its desire to have movies made in the district ahead of their democratic rights as affected neighbours.
The council did not warn them there would be filming on the site and that they would be subject to weeks of noise from workers building the set, and to harsh lighting during night filming.
From October, they put up with noise as the neighbour's house was given a $700,000 makeover for the film set by New Upstairs Productions.
But it was not until late last year the couple found out this was not a normal case of home renovations.
"When I tried to find out from the council about what building permit and planning consents there were, I found all these anomalies," Mr Bell said.
He said the renovations were started without either a resource consent or building permit.
The council left it to a private contractor to recommend whether the film project should be publicly notified and thus go to a hearing.
Planning approval was given on a non-notified basis on the delegated authority of the council's head of resource management.
Mr Bell said the consent process was done with extraordinary speed - lodged on December 14, it was granted on Christmas Eve.
Three owners of properties adjacent to the filming site gave written approval after the application was lodged, which added to the Bells' belief that approval was given in haste and without due care.
The council did not get approval of all affected persons.
The Bells' complaint to Rodney Mayor Penny Webster brought a denial that the application was not dealt with appropriately.
The resource consent allows filming on up to 40 days between January 21 and April 18, with no more than 14 days of filming between 9pm and 6am.
The three neighbours nearest the site told the Herald they had no complaints about the co-operation from the film production company.
* The council is considering changing its District Plan to allow permanent use of the Kelly Park company land at rural Wainui, near Silverdale, as a film-making centre. The company says its film making contributed $20 million over three years to Rodney's economy.
