A FLY-on-the-wall documentary to lay bare the inner workings of Calstock Parish Council got the cautious backing of councillors last week.
Calstock-based A38 Films wants to make a series for Westcountry TV about the work of the council but the idea did not meet with universal approval.
Councillor Les Davey said he did not see the point and Councillor Liz Gardner said: 'We don't want to be film stars.'
But Councillor Godfrey Smale said: 'I don't think we can lose by having a film. People are entitled to know what happens. I'm sure there's nothing wrong with it – we are adult enough to control ourselves.'
Council chairman Stan Venning thought it was a good idea.
'It won't hurt this council to have a bit of publicity,' he said.
Councillors agreed in principle to the scheme by 11 votes to four and asked that the producer, Mick Catmull, attends their next meeting to discuss his plans.
Mr Catmull said he wanted to make the series because local government was being reformed and the Prime Minister Tony Blair was holding parish councils up as a model for others to emulate.
'Parish councils are very active in Cornwall, and Calstock is one of the biggest parishes in Cornwall,' he said. 'It has such an interesting mixture — industrial and agricultural, incomers and locals — and is having to go through some pretty dramatic changes.
'There are going to be some quite fundamental changes to the area. The Tamar Valley is part of a strategy to attract visitors. It's an undiscovered jewel and it's really going to take off, especially with world heritage status and Objective One funding. The film will be an interesting study of a parish having to come to terms with all this.'
Mr Catmull said there would be six half-hour programmes covering all aspects of the council's work and not just the meetings.
'You'd see all the projects the council are involved in – it would be a picture of the parish.'
Mr Catmull said filming probably would not begin until next year. He said he would have preferred to get started sooner to cover the forthcoming election, but other commitments prevented that.