Council drones to spy on home extensions
Fears over use of drones to snoop on home extensions and check for ‘breaches of planning controls’
Councils are to start using drones to snoop on home extensions if they suspect they infringe planning rules. North Yorkshire county council has confirmed to The Daily Telegraph that it plans to use its newly bought drone to look for “breaches of planning controls”. It comes as dozens of district and county authorities have applied for commercial drone licences from the Civil Aviation Authority. The developments have prompted concern from campaigners.
COUNCILS are to use drones to snoop on people’s home extensions if they suspect they have built them too large.
North Yorkshire county council has confirmed to The Daily Telegraph that it plans to use its new drone to look for “breaches of planning controls”.
It comes as dozens of district and county authorities have applied for commercial drone licences from the Civil Aviation Authority.
The developments have prompted concern from campaigners. The group Big Brother Watch called for new guidelines to be drawn up.
Silkie Carlo, the director of Big Brother Watch, said: “There’s a real risk that drones could be used by councils to expand the surveillance state. There should be clear safeguards in place to make sure authorities make the best of new technologies without having free licence to snoop on the public in the absence of good reason.”
Councils across the country already use drones for a number of functions such as investigating fly tipping.
Among them is North Yorkshire, which recently spent almost £2,000 on one of the devices, which is to be licensed by the Civil Aviation Authority.
The council told The Telegraph the device would be used for a range of enforcement activities including “inspecting poor roofing work by a rogue trader, looking for livestock carcasses or inspecting sites in relation to breaches of planning controls.”
Matt O’neill, assistant director of growth, planning and trading standards at North Yorkshire county council, said: “Like many councils, we use advances in technology to help us to work smarter. It’s a useful addition to the tools available, enabling us to make more efficient use of limited resources and to enhance health and safety.”
The Telegraph found that more than 20 councils have been granted approval by the Civil Aviation Authority to use drones for commercial purposes.
The figures do not reveal the full extent of council drone use as some will have applied via third-party contractors who perform drone work on their behalf.
The revelations come as councils are being urged to use drones to crack down on cowboy builders by investigating reports of shoddy workmanship from the air.
Cameras on the drones will be used to stream live footage of roofs and other hard-to-reach spots to council staff. There has been a rising number of complaints about botched, unfinished and overpriced building work.
The Federation of Master Builders says unfit contractors cost the UK economy £10 billion a year, up from £3.5billion in 2010.
Separate research based on criminal convictions by the site Property Heads shows that areas most at risk from cowboys are Co Durham, Kent and Essex. The firm recently launched an online database to name and shame the worst offenders.
Around 1,000 names of convicted offenders have been put on the site after being checked against court records. ♦ Three flights have been diverted to Stansted Airport after reports of a possible drone sighting at Gatwick Airport
The two easyjet flights, one from Barcelona and one from Amsterdam, were initially sent to Stansted before taking off again to land at Gatwick.
A British Airways flight from Heraklion was also diverted.
A Stansted spokesman said he did not anticipate any further diversions yesterday.