Drone use banned in Shropshire park

Chris Drury has been told by Shropshire council that he is not allowed to use his drone at Severn Valley Country Park near Bridgnorth.

The 42-year-old has claimed the council is acting outside of its remit because activity in the skies is regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority(CAA) and not local councils.

However, the council’s director of place and enterprise George Candler said Mr Drury, who served in the Royal Navy, will not be allowed to use drones at the site due to concerns for the safety of the public.

He said that allowing the use of the drone could set a precedent.

Mr Candler said: “Mr Drury has been advised by Shropshire Council that we will not allow him to use a drone at Severn Valley Country Park. We are concerned about safety of other users on our parks and, although he has, according to him, all the licences etc, we believe that granting permission could set a precedent for others who do not have the required certificates, to use drones on rural and urban parks as well as school fields.”

Mr Candler said there is currently no policy on the use of drones but that the council would be keeping the issue under review.

Mr Drury, who is hoping to become a commercial operator, said: "I was flying a drone at Severn Valley in October when an angler expressed the view that he didn't like me being there. At first the council said it was fine for me to stay.

"But when I later contacted them they said they were introducing a drones policy and I can't them use my equipment there. The reasons they gave me included that drones may have cameras fitted. I pointed out that by law those with cameras must be operated 50 metres away from people and buildings.

"Councils are paying attention to negative media and are not following the CAA's rules which are already set up to regulate drone users. The effect of that is that they are banning people who use public land for recreational purposes."

The Civil Aviation Authority has strict rules that recreational drone users must follow, and operators can be prosecuted for flying them illegally. The CAA has updated its Dronecode, which advises users how to fly safely, after near-misses including a drone that came within 20ft of a passenger plane as it was about to land at Heathrow Airport.

The rules include pilots having the drone in their line of sight at all times, never flying near aircraft, and maintaining an altitude below 120 metres and distance of at least 50 metres from people and buildings.