Councils To Use Drones To Check Planning Applications?

• April 19, 2016|
• News|
• admin-malbern

Before setting your heart on one of the best conservatories Manchester has to offer, you better check planning rules and seek planning permission before getting started – otherwise you and your extension could be in for a whole world of trouble.

However, it’s the councils that have found themselves in a spot of bother this week after a freedom of information survey revealed that, out of hundreds of councils, a dozen or so had used or hired drones – some of which for the purpose of investigating planning applications.

Epping Forest council was one of two districts which had used drones to check on planning permission cases, and in fact bought two drones in February for £5,000, reasoning that the unmanned aerial vehicles could be used by their Planning Enforcement department.

Some politicians have called into question whether the drones use for this purpose are an invasion of privacy and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) says it was ‘concerned’, according to the report from The Telegraph.

A spokesman for the ICO said: “We are always concerned with developments like this that they will start to be used without having a clear purpose justification and without data protection safeguards in place.”

To pilot a drone commercially, you must have full accreditation and training, ensuring they are safely piloted and cause little threat to humans, animals and structures, and according to privacy experts, councils would need to forewarn if a drone was to be flown over residential areas, however, another spokesman for Moray council said that it was unlikely drones would ever be needed to check planning permission issues.