I am new to Drone Flying. I have downloaded the Drone Assist App. Which is very good. I live near Southport. Merseyside. I was well aware of the restriction regards Woodvale and Sefton Council having a PSPO for the sefton coast. But i came across an albeit amber listing for EGCO Southport Birkdale Sands. This has puzzled me as the only time aircraft land on the beach is Soiuthport Air Show usually in July. Also this is only shown in drone assist not airmap or DJI fly. I guess the question is if it is amber can i fly my drone in this zone accepting the sefton council restriction for the coastline. Anyone with any local knowledge ?
I see your a member, why not use the clubs drone scene,
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Hi @oxogravy , it looks as though you’re quite new here 
Why not nip over to the Introductions page, and say hello properly and tell us a bit about yourself. 
I thought it was disused as it had been built over with housing… could be difficult to explain parking a plane in someone’s house
https://www.abct.org.uk/airfields/airfield-finder/southport-birkdale-sands-i/
I think the ‘airfield’ is the actual beach, not the housing estate area - used sometimes during the airshow, and maybe occasionally by microlights ?
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hmm,bit more info here
https://www.ukairfieldguide.net/airfields/Southport-flying-sites
looking at one of those images it seems to be close to here… good luck landing anything on that and walking away from it.
(turn the sat image overlay on or it will look like a sea of blue 
)
I found this disused one at the top side of the pier, I cannot see anything taking off or landing on the mud flats of southport near the pier (it was fkin horrible last august BH for the air show).
some old photos of birkdale sands at the bottom of this thread
I guess this airport is called Birkdale Sands for good reason
well, I stand corrected, if you look at the arrivals and departures below it does look like its active …
not quite as active as john travolta’s air strip… but hey a runway is a runway and anything you can walk away from is apparently a good landing.
VVVV if you are curious about john travolt’s air strip (he does share with others too)
I remember the odd small plane landing & taking off from the hard sand in the beach, as indicated by the strip on the map; however, I’ve not seen any in the last 20 years or so 
Hi,
I have flown in Southport a few times and can only tell you what I am aware of
There used to be an authorisation zone, which I believe is now an enhanced warning zone due to Woodvale. This covered Ainsdale beach but I don’t think it extended up to Birkdale sands.
There used to be ceiling height zones above the marine lake but these have disappeared with the latest dji amended zones.
As you say there’s a warning zone for an airport around Birkdale Sands area on Drone Scene but I’ve never seen any planes here for 20 years or so, and even prior it was very adhoc and generally in the summer; there’s no buildings, sheds etc and recently the beach has deteriorated as a result of reduced maintenance, with more vegetation and mud, which really makes use as a runway dangerous and not really feasible. So, I whilst I acknowledge the warning I feel there is no risk as a result.
You also have the SSSI along the coast, which I believe applies to the dunes, grasses and plants predominantly but there’s also mention of migratory birds and nesting birds; this is mainly to the North around Marshside.
I tend to try and fly outside the bird migration periods/areas and outside nesting season; and having done that risk assessment 
try to be very discreet and haven’t had any issues flying adjacent to the pier.
Not sure if this is helpful, but hope you are able to get some flights in 
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I’ve seen all of those activities being undertaken on Ainsdale beach, some more regularly than others.
I wonder how many visitors actually read the beach notice
Robert I followed your first link and if you look at the historical flight records, the last one there was in October 
Edit, I stand corrected, there was one in February this year 
You are right of course. Just done exactly that.
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I have this strange idea in my mind that if something is red. Dont do it. If its amber use judgement put your foot down and close your eyes. Lol. What is the community view of these amber zones.
Don’t focus on the colour, different data providers will use different colours to represent different things.
For example, DJI might use orange to represent something that Drone Scene might represent in red.
Focus on the content - that’s the important part
they may be a helicopter too instead of a plane, same outcome… something landing or taking off.
I guess if you are being smart you would look at the wind direction and determine which end of the beach something would land on (into the wind) and take off in. it would probably be worth checking if they have a wind sock on the beach too as it would probably be used by pilots before landing and taking off.
no wind sock and it’s more of a field… ie anything could land or take off on it if it needed to. bit like when I’ve been horse racing at haydock and saw a couple of planes and a helicopter land and take off from the central grassy oval in the centre of the track.
like everything… check drone scene before you take off for any flight restrictions and Notams in place. read anything listed nearby and decide if it applies to UAVs … if not, fly with caution and use your eyes and ears as obviously it’s an ever changing sky and anything could appear at any time.