Auckland, Nov 26 (IANS) Singer Taylor Swift has courted controversy with the filming of her new music video in New Zealand.
It was earlier reported that Swift would release “Out of the woods” as her next single and she would shoot its music video in New Zealand.
The “Bad Blood” hitmaker and her crew were seen on Bethells Beach here on Monday, and some conservationists as well as beachgoers weren’t happy about it, reports aceshowbiz.com.
According to Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED), Swift was given permission to film on the Beach on Monday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
She was allowed to bring only two vehicles to the area, but a dozen of trucks were spotted on the sand that day. With so many people involved in the filming, locals were afraid the activity would affect the endangered baby dotterel birds which nest at the beach.
Waitakere Ranges Local Board chair Sandra Coney expressed her concern in a statement she posted on Facebook.
“Taylor Swift filming at Bethells this week. Permission was given for I think 2 vehicles, instead there were about a dozen. Parks not happy at all,” she wrote.
“We are trying to minimise vehicles on beaches for good reasons but at Bethells there are baby dotterels.
“We have developed a dotterel management plan as there is a heap of filming out there, and we welcome it as economic activity that should leave no footprint, but Taylor’s lot did not respect the environment or the conditions of their consent,” she added.
Responding to the news, ATEED said they couldn’t punish production companies that breached their permits, but it didn’t mean they would just “shake it off”.
A spokesman stated that ATEED would “work with companies to either stop the breach occurring any further, or ensure production companies are more closely managed in future.”