No commercial filming in areas of SANParks
Commercial filming and photography will be prohibited in some areas of the West Coast National Park due to a change in the permit process, the SA National Parks (SANParks) said on Thursday, 10 December 2009.
The areas include the Cape of Good Hope section at Cape Point from December 15 until January 15, 2010; Boulders Beach (including boardwalks) from December 11 until January 12; and Silvermine from December 16 to January 11.
“All tourist access and activity will still continue during the dates mentioned above as the closure only applies to commercial filming and photography,” SANParks said in a statement.
All other locations of Table Mountain National Park will still be available for commercial filming and photography.
The closure is a result of SANParks taking over the commercial filming and photography permit process which was previously contracted to a service provider.
This was being done as part of SANParks' compliance with the Public Finance Management Act and because SANParks needed to be in control of commercial activities in the protected areas it managed.
“In the four-and-a-half months that the permit process has been conducted from SANParks' head office in Pretoria, we have been able to accommodate and assess this particular activity in the parks.
“Given that the core business of SANParks is conservation and tourism, we have also been able to institute the necessary regulations in terms of commercial filming and photography, which
were previously not in place, as advised by the park managers, area managers and section rangers.”
The Cape Region has been identified as the busiest sector in terms of commercial filming and photography with the areas within Table Mountain National Park being the most popular for the
industry.
SANParks has now transferred the function of issuing of filming and photography permits to its Cape Town office.
From December 11, any requests for commercial filming, including documentaries, and photography in SANParks should be sent through to Vanessa Fletcher at , tel: +27 (0) 21 7018692 or fax +27 (0) 21 7018773.
The procedure for application and the relevant documents can be found on the SANParks website at www.sanparks.org/groups/filming.
SANParks head office will close from December 15 until January 4.
Source: Sapa
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