27 February 2019
LGOIMA No. 8140004065
(Please quote this in any correspondence)
Al en Reynolds
By Email: [FYI request #9388 email]
Dear Allen
Local Government Official Information And Meetings Act 1987
Drone flying in Auckland Council Parks
I refer to your request which we received on 13 January 2019, regarding information relating
to drone flying in Auckland Council Parks. I also refer to my email of 13 February 2019,
extending the timeframe for us to respond to your request. Thank you for your patience while
we have worked on this response. Our response to your questions is as fol ows:
Has Auckland Council measured, assessed, surveyed or otherwise gathered and
recorded data on Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) flying in Council parks
and public spaces?
In order to respond to your request, we have consulted with council’s Parks Sports and
Recreation department to provide related information. I have been advised that Auckland
Council has not commissioned any research into drone use in parks.
For completeness, we have checked with the following council units/departments who have
all confirmed they have not carried out or commissioned any research in this area:
• Parks Services, Parks, Sport and Recreation Directorate
• Parks and Recreation Policy Team, Community and Social Policy Directorate
• Service Strategy and Integration Unit, Community Services Directorate
• Economic and Social Research and Evaluation Team, Research, Investigation and
Monitoring Unit
The Licensing and Regulatory Compliance Team from the Regulatory Services directorate
has confirmed that they had received one complaint about drone flying in a Rosedale park.
The nature of the complaint was deemed beyond nuisance under the bylaw and a police
matter, as the details implied endangerment of public safety. However, due to the lack of
information from the anonymous complainant it was not possible for the council to take any
further action.
Has Auckland Council specifically permitted, authorised or in any other way allowed
the use of any Council park or public space for Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems
(RPAS) flying events?
As per the council’s guidelines, individual recreational use of drones does not require a
permit if it is within the council guidelines and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) regulations.
Private Bag 92300, Auckland 1142 |
aucklandcouncil.govt.nz |
Ph 09 301 0101
Any drone use outside the council guidelines would require landowner approval from the
Stakeholder and Land Advisory Team within the council’s Community Facilities department,
they have confirmed that since the CAA regulations required landowner approval, nine
requests have been received, four of which were declined.
Screen Auckland issues permits for drone use for commercial filming in parks. I have been
advised that no records are held by Screen Auckland relating specifically to drone use during
Auckland Council-permitted filming.
The events team from the council’s Arts Community and Events (ACE) department has
confirmed that they have not issued permits for any dedicated, large-scale event specifically
for drone flying. However, they do consider requests for the use of drones as part of other
events, primarily for the purposes of recording the event.
I have been advised that about 2,400 council film permits have been issued and 6,000 event
requests since 1 January 2015. To provide you the specific information on when permission
was given to allow the use of a drone as part of an event, or any permitted shoot at parks,
would involve a manual review of all film permit or event requests. Therefore, in accordance
with section 17(f) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987
(LGOIMA), some of the information you have requested cannot be made available without
substantial collation or research.
We have considered whether fixing a charge for the request or extending the timeframe of
the request would enable the request to be granted in accordance with section 17A(1) of
LGOIMA . However, given the volume of information we are likely to retrieve if the searches
were conducted, we do not believe that charging for the information or extending the time
limit would allow us to grant your request in this instance.
If you have any further queries please contact me on 09 301 0101, quoting LGOIMA No.
8140004065. I also wish to apologise for the delay in getting this response to you and draw
your attention to your right to seek a review from the Office of the Ombudsmen about this
extension.
Yours sincerely
Jenny Hua
Privacy and LGOIMA Business Partner
Democracy Services
Private Bag 92300, Auckland 1142 |
aucklandcouncil.govt.nz |
Ph 09 301 0101
