Oldham Council WTF

Drone Flying Policy | Oldham Council.

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What’s wrong with it @Mungmeister (apart from the date it was last updated)?

If it helps, as per Drone Scene, Oldham Borough Council does not have any byelaws relating to the recreational use of drones from their land.

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Re sub 250g drones ? or am I missing something

For drones under 250g, recreational drone flying should never be within 150m of residential, commercial, and industrial areas, unless for commercial use.

?!?!

It’s just a council “policy” that is thankfully not worth the paper it’s written on :slight_smile:

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I think the point being raised was the sub 250g drone section has been drafted by someone with limited ability and possibly lack of understanding of legal interpretation? The first paragragh directly conflicts with the last paragragh of that section (sub 250g drones). First para suggests correctly that you can fly close to (but incorrectly muddies/confuses the point suggesting 50m) and the last para says the opposite suggesting more than 150m.

If their policy wishes to be so precise then why do they not mention pilots with their CoC flying, for arguments sake, legitmately flying a 900g drone under A1?

My understanding is that the “Air Space” is controlled by the CAA and by trying to enforce who needs permission to fly in air space “above council controlled land” would on the face of it appear to be ultra vires; ie beyond their powers. Perhaps to trying to charge for permission when such permission is not required? Moreover, such documents make other people think the the council know what they are taking about. I have seen AI interpretations getting it wrong as the result of such spurious documents.

It comes across that Oldham Council is limited in its ability to draft such documents and it further seems no one is proof reading document prior to publication.

Unless of course I have misunderstood where I can and cannot fly my DJI mini 4 Pro?? Advise me if I am confused; as I do like to stay within the law as best I can.

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Which is why nobody pays any attention to a council policy :man_shrugging:t2:

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Regrettably, common sense and proportionality have never been pre-requisites for local authority staff …

Byelaws are enforced by the local authority through the magistrates’ court and contravening a byelaw can result in a fine upon successful conviction. Byelaws are considered measures of last resort after a local council has tried to address the local issue the byelaw applies to through other means. No complience with Byelaws can be dangerous example parking in a railway car park without paying (forget the cowboys trying to enforce this or even make you pay, the can’t because they can not enforce a byelaw), but if the railway decides to follow up the issue (now it becomes a diffrent story), you could get you a criminal conviction

The UK has a long-established legal system, involving common law precedents and Acts of Parliament, when they were wrote has no relevance, it’s fact they were made. Used to be limited, to a fine of £20. For a continuing offence, a fine may be prescribed by the byelaw but, if there is none, £5 per day is payable for every day on which the offence continues after conviction (Note the word conviction). Then came Part 6 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 (sections 129–135): basically a contravention of a byelaw is an offence punishable on summary conviction to a maximum fine either fixed by the enactment that confers the power to make the byelaw or, if no sum is fixed, level 2 on the standard scale (£500). (Its noting to do with the so called drone police, Its meeting that one person that does know and maybe wants to prove a point) As for drones are concerned, should someone decide to follow it up, they are usally dealt with by means of an agreement contract with Police and given a community resolution (I believe the first one was in 2017, I could be mistaken). Some times its not how we feel, our opinion or want to hear but ‘ignorance of the law is no excuse”

Remember the council(s) are like the National Trust and believe “cuius est solum, eius est usque ad coelum et ad inferos” All i am saying contervention of bye lays can be costly.

I have just wasted 20 minutes of my life and flying time! trying to find where I wrote this previously! - I hope this helps and of course I could stand corected - Keep flying Guys.

4 topics created and 5 posts created (including this post) - none of the previous ones are on legal matters. :man_shrugging:

Perhaps you only got as far as the draft?

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More to the point, though, is the number of signs/council reps, that spout “byelaw” when none exist.

You may enjoy this thread : Over 370 Local Authority Byelaws and Policies on the Recreational Use of Drones are now available on Drone Scene

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Thats a nice resource thats been put together for us.

Lots of hard work for sure.

I still find it curious that identicle FOI requests spaced a couple of months apart yielded completely opposite, contradictory answers..

Left hand right hand strikes again.

All hail the sterling work of local councils :wink:

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I always get a little suss when I read long winded replies. Makes me think there’s a little copy and pasting going on. Ohh hang on a second :backhand_index_pointing_down:

Local government legislation: byelaws - GOV.UK.

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Be sure to only ever reference and present the one that works in your favour :blush:

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Whilst we’re on the topic of byelaws, does GADC ever repeat the FOI’s?

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Usually every three years, simply because byelaws only ever change or get updated once in a blue moon.

If time permits or necessity calls for it, we may do it again sooner :blush:

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In the meantime you could always badger your own locality and update us if any changes

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