Congested zone?

Due to me not being allowed to drive anymore, I’ve been looking for places to fly close to home.
I saw this on google earth and realised I’m only 600m from the centre of the site from my garden. The site is waste water treatment works and it looks like it is partly powered by the solar panels. To reach it would mean 100m flying over neighbouring properties. I’m outside of the airport nfz and would be flying further away from it.
Question is, would I be jumped on by the drone police?

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This might help assess your ‘built up area’ situation:

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The drone police would take any chance to jump on a flight that looks or sounds outside normal parameters.

That said, I’d be more worried about loss of visibility if the drone got into trouble. You say you cant drive anymore but if you can walk then I’d want to get closer.

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Agree with @stubbyd, flying so much without VLOS would worry me. Can’t you get to the large green area below on the map? Looks like a perfect spot with big spaces, unless that’s private?

There’s a public footpath running along the boundaries of the site but it’s overhung with tall mature trees that would prevent take off. They’ve also repaired the fence to stop the rat bikes getting on site.
A bit more exploration me thinks.

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It’s only 600m - Could still be within LOS, especially with strobes on.

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The field is private as is the neighbouring golf course.

Good idea re strobes

It’s got flytron strobes fitted so it would be visible. The only problem I see now is over flying one house.

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It’s up to you to decide if it’s a built up area or not.

If it’s not, you’re fine to fly over at 50m :+1:t2:

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Thanks @PingSpike.
I’ll post footage if I decide to go for it.
Just need the weather now.

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The truth is that yes you could be trampled on by the drone police.

It’s ridiculous though for the CAA to say that a 250gram plastic flying drone is a risk to life and limb so must be kept at a distance no closer than 450ft to people or properties. All the CAA achieve with this legislation is that decent people like yourself, can’t fly for fun and others can’t use them in urban environments to help with local Search And Rescue operations for lost dogs and people.

Ireland has a better arrangement, having applied a degree of common sense to their solution. They recognise that it’s only the heavier drones that are likely to cause damage (over 1kg) so only these need to be registered, and they set a safe zone for people and properties at 30m (60ft). However, even there it’s a little odd because they say it shouldn’t be flown over towns and villages, which probably conflicts with the 30m rule. Either way though, Ireland has a better solution that all can understand because it makes sense, unlike the CAA’s UK solution with complexities like 50m for the countryside and 150m wherever theres a dwelling.

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