Drone to boost council’s investigations
There will be eyes in the sky at work for North Kesteven District Council, which will use a new drone for its investigations and prosecutions.
The drone will be used to investigate issues such as planning enforcement problems, fly-tipping and nuisance bonfires.
After successfully using contracted drone technology to map emissions in smoke control zones, the Environmental Health team saw its wider potential. It identified several ways a drone could help prevent and detect crime, increase investigation efficiency, and reduce potential health and safety risks.
These include locating fly-tipping, identifying waste accumulations, assistance with contaminated land site walkover inspections, locating sources of insect outbreaks, assessing for compliance with notices, roof inspections, locating bird scarers, light pollution cases, and smoke control zone enforcement.
Rather than use contractors, the council decided that having its own trained drone pilots would be more effective as Cllr Mark Smith explained: “The council will utilise drones to obtain video and photographic footage of premises or land for use in detecting and preventing crime, investigating an environmental concern, carrying out enforcement investigations and, crucially, being able to view sites that would be difficult to access from the ground.
“This is great news and will help ensure that the council’s investigations are more time efficient, as well as removing potential health and safety issues, such as fly-tipping.
“We would also like to reassure residents that this will be carried out in targeted areas following intelligence and not through a broad-brush approach.”
Bohdan Dawyd, Environmental Health Officer, at NKDC added: “Drones have become a vital tool in investigations, enabling teams to gather accurate, real-time information quickly and safely.
“By providing aerial perspectives that would otherwise be difficult or time-consuming to obtain, they enhance evidence collection and reduce risk to colleagues.
“Through structured procedures and targeted training, we’re ensuring drone deployments are both effective and compliant, ultimately improving the quality and efficiency of investigative work.”
Drone usage will be overt and pilots will have to consider data protection and sensitive sites as part of their flight planning.
The Council has created a training package to make sure staff are flying with confidence and legally in compliance with the Civil Aviation Drone Code.
Top photo shows Environmental Health Officer Bohdan Dawyd (left) training his colleague, Environmental Protection Officer Jason Bowring with the new drone.
