Agenda item

The Executive was informed that neighbouring authorities had recently adopted a zero-tolerance approach to the operating of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UVA) within their parks and open spaces.  Consequentially, this was pushing more operators to move across boundaries, increasing the use of the Council’s parks and open spaces.

A review of the Borough’s Open Space Byelaws was in its early stages and was due to be completed before the end of 2017. 

Members noted that a number of UAVs could be flown to capture or observe the images beneath, which had privacy implications of the subsequent use of the material captured.  It was also noted that one of the Council’s parks, in particular, was on the flight path into Farnborough Airport, which had further implications and restrictions imposed from the Civil Aviation Authority.

Learning to use this type of equipment was usually done through trial and error and so, naturally, results in a number of collisions and accidents, all of which have the potential to be a health and safety risk within Parks and Open Spaces. As these devices had become more affordable, the number of in-experienced operators was also increasing. The Council had seen a significant increase in the number of complaints from not only residents neighbouring its facilities but also from other users of the Parks and Open Spaces.

It was therefore proposed to introduce a Policy stating that permission would not be granted by the Council to any request to use Unmanned Aerial Vehicles on land owned by Surrey Heath Borough Council, whether for recreational or commercial purposes.   Exemptions to this Policy would only be considered where users were part of a formalised model aircraft flying club that could demonstrate all health and safety and insurance measures were in place.  A licence agreement must be made between the Council and the formalised club before site usage would be established.

It was proposed, for clarity, that the title of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Policy should be amended to include reference to Drones and Model Aircraft.

Resolved to adopt the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Policy, attached as Annex 1 to the agenda report, as amended, prior to a review and amendment of the current Byelaws.