Council agree trial to use aerial drones for planning enforcement

Aerial drones are set to be used across the Basildon borough to assist the council with planning enforcement cases from next month.

Thurrock Council has been using aerial drones for several years and has its own in-house provision made up of six officers in the Environmental Protection Service who are qualified drone pilots and licensed by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

Thurrock Council has agreed to provide the service to Basildon Council on a six month trial in which time its success will be evaluated in tandem with a public consultation.

Chair of the Neighbourhoods and Public Spaces Committee Councillor David Harrison said:

“The use of this technology will vastly improve our ability to effectively work on enforcement cases. Drones provide the tactical capability to gather photographic evidence from a bird’s eye perspective, especially where there is land that is otherwise difficult to access by conventional methods.

“The recent Covid-19 pandemic has also presented challenges associated with social distancing so the use of drones will help alleviate that issue and keep our officers safe whilst continuing to investigate planning breaches.”