I won’t hold my breath or open the popcorn yet.
It’s like joining a monopoly game when someone’s already put hotels across the board, tbh.
Totally agree and once my knowledge is sufficient I will approach the council for exactly this reason.
Look at Coventry with the A1 Vertiport and here we are stuck with a council that has a mentality of 1805, horses as transport nah, no need, what cars, no need, what aircraft such a nuisance and now drones, such a nuisance and breach of privacy. Well, it ain’t that simple anymore, from our rights to international espionage (but that’s another set of topics).
Just have to love it that we refer to cases of law from the 1800‘s with the topic of balloons 
Also the discussion towards taking off from National parks to get over the lack of airspace control. So controlling the land can control my actions, hmmm now that will be interesting in court too. For example, I am lost with an injury, but have a drone to fly to see which route is less steep down a hill / mountain. Well I ain’t going to think about whether it’s legal or not. Just makes it all so childish like, embrace and learn.
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Why approach the council when they have no applicable byelaw?
The police clearly do know what’s enforceable and what isn’t and put up temporary airspace restrictions when there’s major international events on like the Commonwealth Games. Outside of that just crack on. If you want to fly things over 250g in parks and similar join FPVUK and get your article 16 operational authorisation coverage and third party liability coverage too.
Excellent question and you are right in what you say.
To answer, in asking them to update their information and maybe even create a drone page website, we can have a clear line of communication based upon cooperation, so others can fly instead of the situation where we are today. Worth a try and tobe honest it’s only a matter of time this will happen anyway. Too much is being invested to ban drones, as well as the potential opportunities out there.
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Don’t hold your breath. Most serious drone flyers who have been around a while (tbh a couple of months around folks like on here) have a pretty good sense of what’s kosher and what’s not using the tools available to them - many of which are available thanks to Dronescene and the people who have contributed to it (like Simon Hawkins whose FOI data on byelaws is available through Dronescene) and don’t need a council trying to tell them that drones are banned because they have a parks byelaw from 1706 banning ox-drawn cart on the land. I promise you they will try to reiterate lines like this if you try to approach them.
Just crack on. People actually using the airspace and taking off from council land regardless of what they think is the only thing, ultimately, that will force them to change policy.
You’re better off leaving it as it is, the rules favour you in terms of sub 250g drones. Why poke the bear.
Treat the parks as you would a National Trust property. TOAL outside of the land and flyover. If you’re asked to leave attempt to explain the legality (probably fall on deaf ears so not worth wasting your breath, not the rangers fault he doesn’t know the confusing drone laws) or apologise (shows remorse that you’re a resonable person) and leave it for another day.
You’ve got 16+ hours of daylight at the moment, make the most of that time when rangers are not working to TOAL on site. It’s what I do in Warwickshire parks where they have the same blanket ban. No one bats an eyelid and you get some great shots during golden hour.
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Most councils don’t even employ rangers anymore, or only on a very limited number of sites.
Police will tell you ask the council because they’re not interested in enforcing obscure and outdated byelaws.
Council will tell you something about a byelaw on ox-drawn carts and thus no drones. But have no rangers employed to enforce it.
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Birmingham and Warwickshire do, in the bigger parks they are employed full time (Sutton Park is 2400 acres and Kingsbury Water Park is 600 acres) the smaller parks they roam depending on when maintenance is required. My cousin is one, he actually full time employed on a relatively small park but because he does such a good job on the landscaping side of it the local council have funded his position when the EU funding came to an end.
Although I’m sure at some point they’ll try to find a way to axe him sooner or later to find cost savings.
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Even where they are employed I doubt they know the council’s official line is to try to enforce a byelaw on “vehicles” (or ox-drawn carts as I facetiously refer to), or have much interest in trying. Even most public sector workers have enough pride to not embarrass themselves on behalf of the council’s more hairbrained lines.
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Exactly, hence I said (retro edited a few mins ago) that it’s not the fault of rangers for not knowing drone laws that are confusing enough for pilots let alone none pilots. So better off just packing up and leaving if asked to leave and save it for another day.
Go when they aren’t there and you’re guaranteed to probably have no bother unless there’s a Karen about.
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Yes, agree and have been doing just that. It’s just a pain in the a… though. More to the point, here is a model aircraft club and they can fly without problem and I have to hide and peek around for rangers and for members of this club. Anyway, we all have our ways of dealing with it. 
You have given some good info there too, cheers
Dorje, great points. Anyone know exactly how this is? Which clubs are prepared for the possible retribution? I would not wish to bring any club into difficulties, however a club with lawyers and an insurance for this, would have my membership for sure.
Again, Birmingham has no applicable byelaws as much as they (ludicrously) claim they do. Their agreement with the local club is just that and is not backed by law.
Get an FPVUK membership if you want to be a member of an association that isn’t about putting hotels on the board for exclusive rights.
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Yep, sound advise and will ask in regard to flying in monopolised areas
Don’t ask, just fly. There’s no byelaw against it.
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See, this I don’t get. Why? Parks are public open space used primerily for recreational activities and the flying of a drone in one, from one, isn’t breaking any laws. I don’t consider it poking the bear. I consider it doing something I’m perfectly entitled to do and something they have no right trying to get me to stop.
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I say I do exactly that in the exact same post when rangers ain’t about.
If you ain’t sure what the stance is, then treat it the same as anywhere else, TOAL from footpath, and overfly.
The poke the bear was in comment to opening communication with the council in terms of creating a ‘drone’ section on their website. Engaging with the council to be pro-active about recreational drone flights will only see more notices of you can’t fly here there or anywhere, regardless of the legaility of it.
Ahh, got ya about the bear poking bit 
Why only when Rangers aren’t about? Some National Parks do indeed have bylaws or other SSSI/wetland/nesting restrictions in place regarding drones but if they don’t a park ranger has no power whatsoever to dictate what recreational activity you choose to take part in on their land.
End of the day we all choose our own way of dealing with situations and one shouldn’t be singled out for critisism for their choice.
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This. It’s unfair on them to expect them to know Drone laws. It’s confusing enough for pilots let alone those who know nothing about it and are simply told by their council that they ‘are banned on the park’
Reduces chance of confrontation, but I think also said further up, if you’re happy to fly when they are about, just pack and leave if they ask you too and be polite, they are just doing their job, and their job isn’t to know about drone laws.