In the very near future, all local authorities are going to need to be drone aware – and a lot sooner than is probably realised!
Drones, and their larger electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (e-VTOL) derivatives, are rapidly going to become an important new technology that local authorities will wish to take advantage of – to save costs and improve service delivery – but will also have responsibility to regulate.
By 2030, the professional services network PwC forecasts more than 900,000 drones will be flying in the UK, generating a range of substantive impacts including net cost savings of £22 billion, and a £45 billion contribution to our economy, encompassing some 650,000 jobs and carbon emission reductions of 2.4 million tonnes.
In addition to the many commercial applications that are being envisaged (especially for last mile deliveries), there are also likely to be many applications of drones that can benefit local authorities: blue light services, healthcare and social services, traffic and environmental monitoring, infrastructure inspections, coastal management and land surveying, to mention just a few.
With so many drones prospectively in operation, it is anticipated there could be considerable pressures on the regulation and management of airspace, the availability of landing facilities, and ground infrastructure for recharging, low-level flight management, value assessment, control and monitoring interfaces, training, knowledge and resourcing.
Taken together, drones potentially pose a considerable headache for unprepared local authorities.
As your LGA special interest group on aviation, SASIG has been working on drone issues for a while now.
“Drones potentially pose a considerable headache for unprepared local authorities”
We are engaged with the key government departments and our member workshops have featured sessions by ARPAS-UK, the drone industry trade association and professional body; UK Research and Innovation, which is leading a Future Flight Challenge; the Civil Aviation Authority, the Airspace Change Organising Group, and other interested parties.
As SASIG Chairman, I also recently presented a paper at a Westminster Business Forum conference on ‘Where next for drone regulation in the UK?’
This brought to the sector’s attention the need to engage with local government, for example on how to assess where and how drones can be used beneficially, and a clear regulatory framework (under which councils would take on additional responsibilities and liabilities).
Engagement is also needed on a development pathway to deliver the requisite training and expertise needed by all types of local authorities and their suppliers, on drone management, the interface with planning policy, and the health and safety and environmental issues associated, for instance, with ground handling facilities and emergency planning.
Our input has generated considerable interest among our existing 30-plus local authority members with airports in their areas.
However, drones will have an impact on all 317 local authorities in England and the 65 others that cover the devolved administrations.
For this reason, we have formed the Drone Advisory Bureau. It is open to all authorities to join and benefit from our work with government and industry.
It will also represent all local authorities in helping to define and communicate the regulatory and responsibility pathways that are likely to emerge over the next two to three years.