Silverlight Studios’ proposal for an enormous film park six kilometres east of Wānaka has been given the green light this afternoon (Wednesday December 8).

Buildings as tall as 17m high have been approved for the ambitious $280M film park venture which is set to include replicas of sites in New York, Venice and Paris, alongside a variety of filming, post-production tourist and ancillary buildings and up to 10 sound stages.

The approval for the project comes 96 days after the application was lodged. 

It was approved by an expert consenting panel appointed by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) under the Covid-19 Recovery (Fast-track Consenting) Act 2020. 

In its decision document, the panel said the “unique” project was a New Zealand-first.

“It is essentially a film park that accommodates and provides for all aspects of film making to increase New Zealand’s appeal as a film making destination.”

Silverlight Studios is owned by film industry veterans Ra Vincent, Jonathan Harding and Mike Wallis.

Decision documents said bulk earthworks on the scenic 332ha site near Wānaka Airport could begin as soon as 2022.

Construction of sound stages, an ‘Italian village’ and a ‘seaside village' could take place in 2023; further sound stages, the Paris replica and film tourism sites could be built in 2024; and the New York and Venice replicas in 2025 and 2026 respectively.

Earthworks could begin next year at the 332ha film park site, located 6km east of Wānaka. PHOTO: Realestate.co.nz

The company will need to meet a series of conditions, including a requirement to construct temporary on-site accommodation for at least 50 construction workers before any work starts on the site.

It will also need to provide a public walking and cycling track running east to west through the site and extending to Stevenson Road and either create a second track running north to south through the site or contribute $900,000 to the construction of the wider active transport network. 

Plans for the film park were first made public in March this year and it has received endorsements from the district’s mayor Jim Boult and deputy mayor Calum Macleod, the town’s tourism organisation (Lake Wānaka Tourism), its chamber of commerce Ignite Wānaka, and Film Otago-Southland. 

Others raised concerns about potential increases in noise, traffic, light pollution and visual amenity from the film park, including Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) who advised panel members to “carefully weigh up against the potential adverse effects of the proposal on landscape and the rural character of the surrounding area”.

Read more here about the expert consenting panel’s decision to approve the Wānaka film park proposal.

The expert consenting panel is considering a second application from Silverlight Studios to provide on-site accommodation for the cast and crew. The decision is due in the new year.