Newark and Sherwood District Council to spend £3,300 to purchase the drone

A council plans to spend more than £3,000 buying its own drone.

Newark and Sherwood District Council says it wants to purchase the drone, which costs £1,500, and use it for tourism promotion, enforcement activities, as well as assisting in emergency events such as flooding.

The other costs will come from flight training courses, a certificated competency course, and drone operator IDs.

According to council documents, the entire budget for the first year will be £3,300, and £686 for its operation the following year.

“It is widely recognised that drones can help councils save on time and costs across a variety of its services,” the authority says.

“This broadly falls into two categories – investigatory activity and promotional activity.

“In the case of the former, drones can assist with the council’s statutory obligations such as in the areas of planning and environmental crime, for example.

“The latter includes events and our cultural assets such as Newark Castle or Sherwood Forest. Bradford Council is an example of an authority which deploys drones to document development activities, investigate dangerous structures, and create 3D digital models.

“They report that aerial imagery provides records of a site’s condition and operations, enabling enforcement teams to assess compliance.”

The council is expected to approve its plan to purchase a drone, and adopt a policy for the safe and effective operation of the technology, at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday (November 11).

It says the plan is expected to create savings, because it is currently using external drone suppliers for council activities.

This has cost the authority just under £6,000 over the past 12 months.

Council documents say: “Over the previous 12 months the council has spent circa £5,800 with suppliers in order to collect drone footage.

“Should the proposal to purchase and train officers be approved, this would then save the council circa £2,519.”

Documents also point to the council making money from offering its drone service to other agencies and authorities.

Some have already expressed an interest, the council says, including Nottinghamshire Police.