By Andrew Topping, Local Democracy Reporter
Commercial filming crews and drone users wanting to film across Mansfield will now be charged a fee by its local authority.
Mansfield District Council has approved plans for a charging system and a new online booking portal after receiving a number of requests this year.
New council papers say the Labour-led authority has received seven requests for drone filming in 2023, with a further 15 for general filming.
However, no charges are currently in place for people or crews wanting to film the district’s landscapes.
The council says time and resources are used to investigate every request it receives, leading to plans for the new charges.
This could include people wanting to use the district for drone shots, commercial recordings like adverts, or even film and TV crews using parts of the district.
Recent TV or film examples in the district include Sky and HBO’s drama Landscapers in April 2021 and BBC’s Top Gear, which took over a large portion of the town centre in February 2019.
When requests are made to the council, it assesses whether “special arrangements” are needed for crews and checks insurance and policy documents.
But the new charges will cover any staff support costs incurred by the authority to set up filming locations or to make arrangements for filming to go ahead.
The administration of filming applications and the approval process would also be covered alongside any additional fees.
A report confirms a small crew of up to five people would need to pay the authority £100 for half a day or £150 for a full day of commercial filming.
A medium crew of six to nine people will be charged £200 for half a day or £350 for a full day.
And a large crew of 10 or more people will be charged £295 for half a day or £550 for a full day of commercial filming in the district.
Drone recording will cost a separate £55 per hour, the report adds.
The charges will be coupled with the new online filming application portal, all of which were approved by James Biddlestone, the council’s head of people and transformation, on July 19.
In a report, the council said: “All requests require a level of checking, including seeking permission to use the land/space, discussions with colleagues for access and any special arrangements along with checking insurance and policy documents.
“At present, there are no fees and charges in place to provide this service or online booking process to process applications and requests.
“The charges to be introduced for filming are intended to cover any staff support costs to establish filming locations or liaison with colleagues to make arrangements for filming to go ahead, the administration of the application and approval process from relevant service areas and the marketing and communications team.
“This would also cover the cost of a visit from a relevant member of staff where appropriate.
“Other charges may apply for production filming, including road closures, hiring a council-owned space and recovering staff costs for large-scale productions such as TV shows and movies.”
