After Brisbane City Council’s successful six-month trial of 10 Brisbane parks, Lacey Road Park is now considered as a designated launch area for drones in Carseldine.
In December 2017, several parks across Brisbane have been chosen to include designated areas for flying drones and other remotely piloted aircraft recreationally. These areas are now designated as permanent sites for launching drones.
Environment, Parks and Sustainability Chairman Cr David McLachlan said the Council’s trial for flying drones in Brisbane parks is a response to the increasing demands from hobbyists. The trial is also part of the Council’s commitment to creating more lifestyle and leisure opportunities for residents and visitors to enjoy in Brisbane.
According to Cr McLachlan, drone users who took part in the six-month trial have provided positive feedbacks and hundreds of people have been taking advantage of these designated areas to take off land their drones that are up to 2 kilograms.
“More than 700 people provided feedback to Council following the trial and 80 per cent of those support Council in providing spaces in parks for the launch and landing of drones,” Cr McLachlan said.
The Council has determined that the selected parks will remain available to drone users. They will also look for additional sites that could be leased by clubs for drone racing and fixed-wing aircraft activities.
The following conditions are set by the council when flying drones in the designated parks:
- flying for recreational purposes
- aircraft weighs no more than 2 kilograms
- aircraft is electric
- aircraft has propeller guards (drones only)
- flying no earlier than 7:00 a.m. Monday to Saturday, or no earlier than 8:00 a.m. on Sundays and public holidays
- flying in a manner that does not endanger, interfere with or cause nuisance to the park, park users or adjoining properties
- follow Civil Aviation Safety Authority’s (CASA) safety rules for flying drones and other remotely piloted aircraft recreationally at all times
CASA regulates the flying of drones and other remotely piloted aircraft when they are in the air. Drone users can review the CASA rules for flying drones recreationally on the CASA droneflyer website. These rules must be followed at all times when flying from Council parklands.
As the land owner/manager, Brisbane City Council is in charge of regulating the launching and landing of these aircraft from Council land.
Furthermore, Cr McLachlan said, “Mini-drones that are less than 500g can be launched from any Council park, so long as users comply with CASA restrictions, flight-restricted areas for the Brisbane Airport, Archerfield Airport and helipads.”
Aside from Lacey Road Park in Carseldine, drones that weigh between 500 grams to 2 kilograms can fly in these designated launch areas:
- The Common Park in Coorparoo;
- Preston Road Park in Carina;
- Carindale Recreation Reserve;
- Canterbury Park in Bald Hills;
- Lacey Road Park in Carseldine;
- Wishart Community Park;
- Voyager Drive Park in Kuraby;
- Moggill Ferry Reserve; and
- Keperra Picnic Ground Park
For more information, visit Brisbane City Council’s flying drones in Council parks page.
