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ABC News
2 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
Drone deliveries aren't attracting many complaints but experts say that's not a sign of public endorsement
A lack of complaints from the public has been cited as a reason why 'drone delivery' services should be allowed to expand in Australia — but experts say the reason there was just three complaints last year is because the system is so difficult to navigate. Someone who felt spied on while in the bath as drones flew overhead 28 times in just three hours was among the very few complainants who navigated the bureaucratic nightmare to lodge objections to pilot projects for drone delivery above the suburbs. Despite there being an estimated 3 million drones in Australia, in 2024 there were only three complaints about general drone noise to the government department that regulates it. Previously-secret documents show the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) pushed to reduce restrictions and hand-balled monitoring of drone noise to the Department of Infrastructure, which says in general the issue is "difficult to respond to". Noise is just one of the issues. One of Australia's foremost experts in the field, Julia Powles from the University of Western Australia (UWA), says the companies involved in drone delivery pilots want the sky for themselves. "The vision is to architect highway infrastructure across our sky scape," she says. Documents released under the Freedom of Information (FOI) system suggest that around sites where the deliveries are being trialled, the 'highway in the skies' may already be emerging. "I've been sitting in the bath and watched them through the window fly past with direct line of sight," wrote one complainant in Harrison in the ACT, about 15 kilometres north of Parliament House. "This frequent noise is incredibly disruptive and irritating. It also seems excessive!" Commercial services such as Google's Wing promise to deliver hot coffee and fast food from shopping centres to the suburbs. "Enjoy your latte, without the line," it promises. But the documents reveal the difficulty of complaining about drone noise from the services to the appropriate channel. Local and state governments have also been overridden by the Department of Infrastructure, which has taken control of regulation about drones and wants to see expansion in the sector. UWA associate professor Dr Powles says the number of complaints is being used as "a proxy of community tolerance" for drones — she describes it as a "poor metric", and that's probably an understatement. There are an estimated 3 million recreational drone owners in Australia, according to CASA's annual report, with an estimated additional 2.1 million people planning to buy a drone within the next year. Drone delivery trials have been held in the ACT, Victoria and Queensland. But in the first years of operation there was confusion about who was responsible for complaints about noise from the operations. "Do you go to your city council? Do you go to the federal government? Do you go to the state? And actually, the Department of Infrastructure didn't even know that it was responsible in the first instance," Dr Powles says. People trying to complain about a drone, particularly noise, quickly find themselves in a morass of laws and buck-passing: For Dr Powles, the confusing system throws up two problems. "One, how do you even complain? And the second, how do you complain about what the ambition of these companies, which is to be able to operate at a scale that is commercially valuable." She says for the systems to make a profit it will require tens of thousands of drones over Australian cities In 'back-pocket notes' prepared ahead of a Senate Estimates hearing, the Department of Infrastructure says the increase in drones and Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) "may lead to greater impacts on the community (e.g. noise, security and privacy concerns), which need to be managed appropriately to enable the positive social and economic benefits". In response to questions from the ABC, the department says it "works with a range of stakeholders to ensure community feedback about drone delivery operations is captured and considered, even where complaints are not made directly to the department". Wing, which is owned by Google's parent company, did not respond to a request for comment. The documents bear out the difficulty of making complaints about small devices travelling through the sky at high speed, which disperse noise over a great distance. For example, the City of Logan — the fastest growing area of Brisbane and home to almost 400,000 people — received zero complaints about the drone trial for the six months from October 2023. The Department of Infrastructure logged nine complaints about noise from different trial sites, taking the total to 98 since 2020. Last year it received three complaints about general drone noise. Not that it matters, because the department struggles to do anything about it. "General noise complaints are difficult to respond to," the Department of Infrastructure wrote, in an internal document about the 'drone noise framework'. Responding to the bathtub complaint mentioned at the top of this report, a Department of Infrastructure staffer [whose name is redacted in the documents] apologises and suggests it is unlikely that Wing was responsible for the noise because "Wing has ceased its delivery service in the ACT". They suggest it is more likely a drone used for construction or emergency services, saying they are a "critical element in almost every aspect of emergency operations, e.g. policing". "It is possible that the drone you heard was not Wing's and unfortunately it is not possible for us, based on the information you provided, to confirm the purpose of the drone flights you saw." But in subsequent emails, it becomes clear the drones were from Wing. "I can confirm we were flying at the times noted, so it's likely the noise feedback is regarding our drones," a Wing staff member emailed. "We're going to review the routing in that area and explore adjustments that will likely reduce some of the overflight the resident reached out about." Jake Goldenfein is a law and technology scholar at Melbourne Law School and an chief investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society. "It's a very unusual situation where people would be complaining about noise directly to a federal department," he says. "If you're going to complain about noise, you would complain to the state level Environment Protection Authority (EPA) or the state police or your local council." Dr Goldenfein says the Department of Infrastructure, which has taken control of drone regulation, wants to see expansion in the sector. "The regulation is trying to build a new market for drone delivery services," he says. "It needs to do that in a way that takes into account what the industry actors are capable of doing and what they want. "So yes, industry absolutely has a big say in what the law looks like when it comes to these kinds of technology products." In email correspondence regarding noise approvals, CASA outlines a meeting between it, Wing and the department. CASA wants "further detail" on how Wing is engaging with operators such as other airfields and for the company to establish "agreements/understanding with the operators to communicate and deconflict". But when it asked about interactions between the company and the department "with regards to noise considerations for Melbourne operations" the discussions ended with a question — "is this a federal or local consideration with regards to existing operating restrictions?" No answer was forthcoming in the documents. But the agency was clear — it's not us. Responding to questions, CASA reiterated that it has "no role in noise" regarding drones and is a safety regulator that doesn't touch on privacy or environmental issues. However it does host educational resources and, if followed, its safety rules would work to reduce drone noise. In 2024 CASA laid 12 fines, of between $825 and $1,565, to people who breached laws concerning drones, such as flying over populated or prohibited areas. Responding to questions about drone delivery services, a spokesperson for the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts said operators are required to provide the department with information about noise complaints as a condition of their approval. "[Additionally] before a new drone delivery operation starts in an area, the department reaches out to the affected local council(s) to inform them of the department's role and to request that they forward any noise related complaints to us. Dr Goldenfein says by drawing focus to the issue of drone noise we're missing the larger picture, because they will get quieter. "Noise kind of became the only thing that communities could complain about. It was the only thing that there was a clear process by which communities could engage with," he says. He describes the shape of the delivery trials as "quite strategic" as an effort to channel public concerns about drones to be simply about noise. As Julia Powles reflects, there are bigger issues on the horizon. "I think there are very few people who'd say that what we really need is to elevate the problems of our terrestrial traffic to the sky."
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Council plans to repair damage to lighting column
Marks and cracks on a recently installed illuminated sculpture in the Manx capital will be repaired after the TT festival, Douglas Council has said. The 20ft (6.3m) Three Legs of Mann bracket, mounted on a 39ft triangular column, was put up last month on a roundabout in front of the Sea Terminal. A spokesperson for Douglas Council, which commissioned the £36,000 project, said marks on the lighting column had been due to both wear and tear from parts being in storage for a "few years", and the installation process. The council said it planned to repair the marks and cracks, as well as re-paint the column, once the capital's roads were less busy after TT. The council spokesperson said the illuminated sculpture was part of the Douglas Promenade regeneration scheme which had also involved the Department of Infrastructure (DOI). Douglas Council said it paid to install the feature due to the wider project not being completed. BBC News has contacted the DOI for comment. Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X. Three Legs of Mann lighting column complete for TT Triskelion lighting column to welcome visitors Douglas City Council
BBC News
4 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Council plans to repair damage to new Douglas lighting column
Marks and cracks on a recently installed illuminated sculpture in the Manx capital will be repaired after the TT festival, Douglas Council has 20ft (6.3m) Three Legs of Mann bracket, mounted on a 39ft triangular column, was put up last month on a roundabout in front of the Sea Terminal. A spokesperson for Douglas Council, which commissioned the £36,000 project, said marks on the lighting column had been due to both wear and tear from parts being in storage for a "few years", and the installation council said it planned to repair the marks and cracks, as well as re-paint the column, once the capital's roads were less busy after TT. The council spokesperson said the illuminated sculpture was part of the Douglas Promenade regeneration scheme which had also involved the Department of Infrastructure (DOI).Douglas Council said it paid to install the feature due to the wider project not being News has contacted the DOI for comment. Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.
BBC News
26-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
'The Isle of Man TT is our Christmas,' course clerk says
The Isle of Man TT "is very much our Christmas" to those involved in the races according to the man tasked with running the 118-year-old annual two-week festival held on 37.7 miles (61km) of closed public roads, which sees riders reach speeds of up to up to 135mph (217mph), is about to get year's event saw history made when Michael Dunlop exceeded his late uncle Joey's record number of TT wins, taking his own tally to 29 race of the course Gay Thompson said it was a privilege to be involved in "the oldest motorsport in the world, the most unique motorcycling event in the world" every year. Despite having been at the helm of the races for the past 14 years, Thompson said he still got "the same buzz as what I did from day one". Thompson said the team behind the "iconic event" had continued to make efforts to "enhance safety" included working with Department of Infrastructure to make sure the road surface, which is used by everyday traffic for the rest of the year, "as good as it can be".Each year they look at the road surface and work with the Department of Infrastructure to make sure it is "as good as it can be", he have also made further investments in digital lights and road said: "We're proactively looking at risk all the time and doing what we can to enhance safety."As part of the annual review of the qualifying and racing schedule this year has seen routine warm-up laps scrapped, unless conditions warrant them."If there were damp or wet patches around the course, or it was windier than normal, if anything gave cause for concern that the conditions weren't as good as what we'd want, then we'd put in place what we call a course inspection lap," Thompson those circumstances, the single lap of the course would allow riders to report back any concerns before a decision was taken on running a race. He said while there would always be an "inherent risk" in motorsport, it was something everyone involved was "aware of".And with the weather playing such a crucial part in whether or not the races get underway, Thompson said contingency planning was "absolutely huge" and "key to the whole event"."Given the global reach of the TT now, all of us involved are very conscious that we are delivering this fantastic spectacle of an event to 80-plus countries with a viewing figure of 33 million," he said planning for the races had now become something that took place on all year round, with work ahead of the following year's event due to start a week after the final chequered flag of the 2025 fortnight."Working on the event all year, this is very much our Christmas, and to be involved in the oldest motorsport in the world, the most unique motorcycling event in the world, it's an honour to be in the position I am," he added. Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.
Zawya
07-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
South Africa: Major progress in Western Cape's largest road infrastructure project
The Western Cape Government's Department of Infrastructure, together with its appointed professional team, is making steady progress on Contract C0964.02—an ambitious R520m project to upgrade Louis Fourie Road in Mossel Bay. Spanning 44 months, this development marks the largest provincial government investment in road infrastructure within the Garden Route District Municipality, aimed at improving mobility, safety, and regional connectivity in the area. 'In road construction projects, the behind-the-scenes work—often not visible to the travelling public—is what takes time. This project has now reached the phase in the lifecycle where road users will start to see visible progress,' said Jandré Bakker, Acting Director: Operational Support at the Department of Infrastructure. The project recently achieved a milestone when traffic was diverted onto the newly constructed carriageway between The Lofts and Vredebest in mid-April. Road users should also take note of the upcoming milestones: - The opening of the new on-ramp from Vyfbrakkefontein Road to the N2 – 9 May 2025. - The opening of the new off-ramp from the N2 to Vyfbrakkefontein – end May 2025. The temporary ramp past the Shell Garage will remain in place for now until the traffic circle at Vyfbrakkefontein Road is fully completed. - Extensive works on the entrance to the Langeberg Mall to establish the alignment of the new road. Bakker went on to alert road users to these changes: 'There are two points that may cause inconvenience to road users and require them to consider alternative travel routes and plan for additional travel time: "The closure of the slip-lane from the Langeberg Mall onto Louis Fourie Road in the direction of Mossel Bay: This slip lane will remain closed until the new alignment is completed. This is currently anticipated for late June 2025. "The Garret Street intersection with Louis Fourie Road will be closed until Saturday, 17 May 2025 to allow for the completion of permanent layer works at the new intersection. "Road users will not be able to access Garret Street directly from Louis Fourie Road during this period; however, access to local businesses will remain available via Bayview or Gericke Street." Observations by road users "Road users may have noted the difference in level between the road surface and kerb-and-channel along Louis Fourie Road and Garrett Street. Road users are reminded that works on this section are not complete, as the final asphalt surface must still be constructed. "We have received complaints of ponding along the new carriageway which will be addressed once the final asphalt surfacing is in place. All indications are that the drainage structures performed according to plan during recent rains. Road users are reminded that the roadway and full road reserve is an active construction site." Timeline and milestones Provincial Minister of Infrastructure Tertuis Simmers expressed his satisfaction with progress to date: 'The most recent figures up to end-March 2025 shows that R40m of the targeted R85m has been spent on targeted enterprises. The target of 58,000 person days of work is also well on its way to being reached with the most recent verified figure standing at 32,600 person-days of work created. "This means 238 work opportunities have already been achieved of the target of 250. In addition, the project is also making good progress in terms of its local subcontractor development programmes. In spite of its challenges, the project has seen the appointment of 29 subcontract work packages at the total estimated amount of over R9.4m thus far. "The number of dedicated subcontract work packages will increase as the project progresses towards the completion of the major structures and layer works. 'The latest project progress report indicates that the project is currently at 60% complete. This project is still on track to be completed by the end of the second quarter of the 2026/27 financial year." Inconvenience to road users The DOI is aware of the inconvenience the roadworks is causing and thanks residents for their patience during this short-term disruption. Louis Fourie Road was already under significant strain due to heavy traffic volumes (one of the main reasons for the upgrade) and there is a marked increase in traffic every month. Driving through an active construction site is challenging. However, apart from the loss of some traffic-flow capacity at certain intersections, the road has remained a single lane, two-directional roadway for traffic throughout the construction period. Despite these temporary challenges, the Department of Infrastructure acknowledges the ongoing co-operation of motorists. 'We remain confident that the long-term benefit will out-perform the short-term inconvenience of road users and that the investment in infrastructure will unlock more economic opportunities,' Simmers concluded. All rights reserved. © 2022. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
