Causeway Coast Drone Flying in Northern Ireland?

Where to fly your drone in the UK
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Hi everyone, this is a response I have received from the Causeway Coast Local Council after me asking about flying a recreational drone in their parks and beach areas in Northern Ireland. I asked for the possibility of a flying a drone as a hobbyist with A2CofC qualification once the Covid restrictions allow. The council referred my enquiry to Land and Property department which asked me to complete the following form. Have copied Land and Property Services document below as not able to see how I can attach it.

"~~~~ Further to your request to fly a drone on Council land.

Please note that your request must be progressed through the Land and Property ā€˜Request to Useā€™ process.

In order to do so, please submit the following documentation:

  • Documentation to show evidence of your drone operatorā€™s license/health and safety in accordance with the CAA directive.

  • A completed ā€˜Request to Useā€™ form, please find a template attached.

  • Evidence of public liability insurance, indemnity amount of Ā£10m

-A site specific risk assessment which meets a) the Update on The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020 and be) the requirement of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 and c) takes all reasonable measures to limit the risk of transmission of the coronavirus, including implementing the preventative and protective measures identified in the risk assessment and comply with any relevant guidance issued by a Northern Ireland Government Department

Please note that a condition of approval will be your compliance with the current government Coronavirus (COVID-19) regulations guidance in place at the time of your request.

Full documentation should be received at least 8 weeks prior to a request to enable the proper approval procedure.

When the documentation has been received, your request will go to Officer Consultation for comment, if any issues are highlighted we will be in touch.

Following this, each request is then brought to the Land and Property Sub Committee for consideration, which normally run on a monthly basis. Following this each is listed at the Corporate Policy and Resources meeting for approval, and then full Council for ratification.

Many thanks"

The document itself consists of user of vendors etc as a commercial operation.

Name deleted to protect the innocent.

Obviously the council have no drone specific bye-laws in place and clearly want to put off any one who wants to fly a drone legally. On the plus side another council just said there is no problem flying within their park and beach areas as long as I fly legally and follow the CAA rules.

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2

That response looks like a standard copy/paste of their commercial / PfCO flight rules, not a hobbyist recreational flight :slight_smile:

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wow, all that for a hobbyist!! and an 8 week request duration.
Do it once and then file it 365 times for each day of the year, that way youā€™ll know the weather will be ok on one of your applications!! :rofl:

4

Thatā€™s a far better response, a sensible council!!

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I didnt bother asking anyone the whole way up the coast, i did it on a whim really. Just used common sense,and no one around other than a guy building Mayan type sand castles. Got to Dunluce Castle, VLOS, UNDER 60metres and a guy popped up from no where shouting at me about no drones. I didnt argue and he didnā€™t come any closer than 50m to me. I landed and went on my way to the next spot I wanted to film. However on my way out the gate i seen an A4 poster to state no drones. I get that, on a day that there are visitors but during this time everywhere is cloesed and no public.

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Even at that you may not get to fly. In Northern Ireland itā€™s mostly either wet or windy, but usually both. :frowning_face:

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7

Sounds just like here in Scotland :slightly_frowning_face:

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Aye good & bad days. Thatā€™s why it was on a whimšŸ˜‚
Trying to do aerial photos for my work is the nightmare tho. Asking permission to go on a certain date is all well & good untilā€¦ the angry Frank weather goes ā€œoi! You! Noooooo!ā€ Iā€™ll huff and Iā€™ll puff and Iā€™ll make your air 2 have a fly away :wind_face: :wind_face:

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My sister lives in Coleraine and Iā€™d be up there from time to time babysitting her cats when sheā€™s away, which didnā€™t happen at all in 2020. Normally I would spent my time hiking and taking photos, and Iā€™d planned to revisit locations Iā€™ve been to before and re-do them with the drone, but due to covid rules I havenā€™t seen her in person or been up there since March last year. Hopefully that will change in the near future. The Antrim Hills and The Mournes are calling. :smile: :+1:

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