Bid to look at drones ban in parts of Denbighshire backed

A bid to ban drones from flying in public spaces in Denbighshire will be investigated further, after being backed by councillors.

It followed a call by one councillor to designate parks and beaches as "exclusion zones".

Arwel Roberts said he had been made aware of a growing number of the remote-controlled drones in use around Rhuddlan and Rhyl.

Council officers will now examine what legal powers they might have.

Councillors overwhelming backed the call by Mr Roberts, with just five of 43 opposing the move on Tuesday.

Mr Roberts said: "Technology is a marvellous thing but it seems that these flying machines hover over people's houses and gardens.

"The law states that they cannot be flown over built-up areas or within 50 metres of people you don't have control over."

The former head teacher said drones fitted with cameras could now be bought quite cheaply.

Concerns have been raised about seafront destinations like Rhyl

"I've noticed people are not happy within the town of Rhuddlan and parts of Rhyl, with the situation with drones going up in the sky, referring to the privacy of residents, and I thought, 'Why not?'," he added.

"Denbighshire could lead the way here by trying to stop the use of drones in public places like on the beaches and also in public parks."

Mr Roberts said he wanted a public space ban to apply to people who are not authorised by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to operate drones, and who do not follow their guidelines.

Under the plans, he hopes officers would have the power to fine people breaching the exclusion zones.

But Tregarth-based cameraman Nigel Roberts, who uses drones as part of his filming work, said he could " understand the concerns" but added the "guidelines are already there, we just need people to stick to them".

At the moment, laws on flying drones are enforced by the CAA and also covered by some data protection laws.

The CAA has also recently published a code of practice for flying drones, and launched a "Dronesafe" online site with the UK's air traffic control body NATS.