Drone Filming

I want to fly a drone from a Council managed highway, park or open space in Bath and North East Somerset, do I need a permit?

Yes, if any of the following apply:

• The drone falls under the ‘Specific’ or ‘Certified’ category
• You want exclusive use of a park (or section of a park)
• You want to cordon off a take-off/landing zone on a highway or pedestrianised area

How do I apply for a permit?

• If you want a permit for a drone flight related to film/tv/video etc please contact the Bath Film Office. 
• If you want a permit for a drone flight related to a building survey or another purpose, please contact the Council Safety Team and Emergency Planning Team

The drone operator is responsible for ascertaining which category their drone falls under:

• ‘Open Category’ https://www.caa.co.uk/Consumers/Unmanned-aircraft/Recreational-drones/Flying-in-the-open-category/ 
• ‘Specific Category’ https://www.caa.co.uk/Commercial-industry/Aircraft/Unmanned-aircraft/Small-drones/Flying-in-the-specific-category/  
• ‘Certified Category’ https://www.caa.co.uk/Commercial-industry/Aircraft/Unmanned-aircraft/Certified-Category/

As a general guide, the ‘open category’ covers the lower risk type flying scenarios, the ‘specific category’ covers operations that present greater risk, the certified category covers high risk operations.

Open Category

• Please note that drones being flown in the ‘Open Category’ cannot fly over a crowd of people.
• If you are flying a drone in the ‘Open Category’ you do not need permission from Bath and North East Somerset Council to take off from Council managed highway, park or open space, as the new legislation does not make landowner permission mandatory for this category. 
• If you are flying a drone in the ‘Open Category’ you are flying entirely at your own risk.
• The ‘Open Category’ is broken down into further sub-categories.  Each category has its own set of flight parameters.  Please refer to this Creative England matrix for more information on what you can and can’t do with a drone in the ‘Open Category’. https://www.filminginengland.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/UK-Drone-Regulations-Matrix-for-the-Open-Category-v1.pdf

Drone and model aircraft requirements for visitors to the UK from overseas

If you want to use your drone or model aircraft in the UK, you must follow the UK regulations for flying a drone or model aircraft. In most cases, you’ll need to get a UK flyer ID and operator ID.