It’s Time To Drone On About No-Fly Zone In Solihull
Now that drones are taking off, controversy continues to lift off with them, and some folk are pondering measures to keep them at bay.
The risks associated with drones were underlined a few weeks ago when a quadcopter bounced off a tree in the grounds of The White House and implanted itself in the manicured lawn.
Fortunately this turned out to be the result of a drunken exploit rather than a security attack.
That came three months after a New Jersey homeowner sent the American legal system into a tailspin by shooting down a drone that was buzzing around overhead.
It remains unclear whether he had a right to do so or not. The situation is similarly fuzzy in much of the UK.
The law considers it trespass if the ‘lower stratum of airspace’ above a property is entered in a way that ‘interferes with reasonable enjoyment of the land.’
So, uninvited drones above a property might be trespassing.
However, much about this, included the height of this ‘lower stratum,’ is ill defined and will probably remain uncertain until someone brings a test case.
A new website, noflyzone.org, has taken the matter to new heights by offering free registration of properties into a database used by the major drone manufacturers to define areas where they should not be flown.
The situation is a bit different, though, in much of Solihull.
This is because, apart from the very far south west corner of the borough, around Tidbury Green and Wood Lane, the rest sits inside Birmingham Airport’s controlled airspace.
Accordingly, drones should only be flown here with the permission of Air Traffic Control, see noflydrones.co.uk.
