The rule for small crew shoots had always been "Please check with Screen Auckland (SA), but if it’s 9 or less you are unlikely to require a permit". Around the same time that Covid hit our shores, this changed to all shoots regardless of impact and size being required to go through the full permitting process. Covid was not the primary motivation of this change, it was also due to several stakeholders, such as AT and Regional Parks, having their management plans and bylaws assessed concurrently and identifying multiple locations now as sensitive, due to either ecological or cultural reasons. SA have now adopted a general policy of "come to us for all shoots, and we'll advise on if its sensitive, and permit it like we would anything else".