A town council has written to the Isle of Wight council, raising a “failure” of “proper process” and “due diligence” regarding a drone trial.
In a letter to the Isle of Wight council’s chief executive officer Wendy Perera, Cowes Town Council clerk Debbie Faulkner highlighted 16 grievances relating to the council’s decision to trial drones at Cowes’ Mornington Road car park.
What the testing is for
A press release published by the drone operator implementing the trial, Inteliports, and the Isle of Wight council, said the testing intends to show how drones can help the Island receive goods and decarbonise its logistics.
Faulkner pointed to the council’s principle (c) from its list of good decision making rules – “due consultation” is taken and “alternative options” are considered prior to decisions being made.
Lack of public consultation
She added the council’s Regeneration Board had declared on 19th July 2024 that the trial would begin on 7th August, before any consultation with Cowes Town Council or the area’s residents.
Her letter also claimed that the initial decision to trial drones at the car park was seemingly arrived at “without reference” to “any supporting papers”.
With the exception of a letter to the area’s residents on 17th July and a press release sent out by Inteliports on 19th July, Faulkner wrote “no written documents” justifying the decision have been put together or publicised.
No “open meetings”
Cowes Town Council have understood there were no “open meetings” held prior to the public disclosure of the trial, suggesting a “total lack of transparency” around how the decision to begin the trial was green-lighted.
The letter asked for documentation used to assess the decision as well as meeting minutes – a request it said was justified by the council’s principle (i): “a presumption in favour of transparency and openness”.
Complexities surrounding drone flights misjudged
Faulkner concluded,
“The regeneration team appear to have misjudged the complexities surrounding drone flights. Proper due diligence would or should have led them to inquire more carefully about the regulation of drones and to involve early on, the council’s legal department and its health and safety team and invited the former to take specialist independent legal advice.
“The conclusion from our above observations is that there has been a conspicuous lack of concern for proper process and for careful due diligence.
“It is hard to see any area in which the council has followed its own principles of good decision-making.
“In the light of the above failures, CTC invites the IW Council to immediately instigate a formal review of the process taken to arrive at the decision to trial the drones at MRCP and to immediately reverse their decision to lease MRCP to Inteliports for them use it as a drone landing site, whether on a trial basis or for the longer term.”
The Isle of Wight council has been approached for comment.
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which News OnTheWight is taking part in. Some alterations and additions may have been made by OnTheWight. Ed
