Council orders Clonsilla drone delivery service base removed

Behind the Clonsilla Inn, in its rear car park sits a black shipping container bearing the logo of Manna Drone Delivery.

It occupies a fenced off area, with its black, blue and orange launch pads laid out next to charging bays.

But, while signage outside the entrance to the Inn advertises Hosted Kitchens, a virtual foodhall for businesses including Gochu Korean street food and Mr Beast Burger, the drone delivery service wasn’t flying out any orders.

Unlike Manna’s base in Blanchardstown, which has been operational since late February, there wasn’t the steady stream of food runners dropping take-away bags to its container.

Manna has a delivery partnership with a small family-run “dark kitchen” business operating on the Clonsilla Inn premises, says its CEO Bobby Healy. “This business had been operating there for some time as we understand it.”

However, that business wasn’t able to secure planning permission to continue the operation, Healy says. Manna wasn’t involved in their planning application, he said.

On Wednesday, a spokesperson for Fingal County Council said it had recently issued an enforcement notice in respect of the property, citing the drone base as unauthorised development.

The owner of the Clonsilla Inn was issued this enforcement notice on 19 June, council records show, and has two months to remove the landing pads.

The establishment’s owner did not respond to queries about how the dark kitchen and drone base were set up.

For its part, Healy says Manna does not need permission for its drone take off or landing pads. “We did have temporary housing there for storage until we went live, not a permanent setup.”

Unauthorised development

The presence of a Manna Drone Delivery base in Clonsilla was first flagged in April by the local independent Councillor Tania Doyle.

Doyle, writing on Facebook on 17 April, said it was in the heart of a residential community.

Two weeks later, on 2 May, at the Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart/Castleknock/Ongar Area Committee, Doyle asked a representative from the Irish Aviation Authority if Manna had informed Fingal County Council of this base, and whether their being situated in a residential area would have any bearing on Manna’s operational licence.

Enda Walsh, a manager of the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Division of the Irish Aviation Authority said they are not operating there currently. “Developing the lands is outside of our scope.”

There was an application for new locations, he said, but it hadn’t been approved yet.

On 19 June, Fingal County Council’s Planning and Strategic Infrastructure Department issued a planning enforcement notice to Archpool Taverns Limited, the owner of the Clonsilla Inn.

This notice told them that the placing of a storage container and associated signage on the property constituted an unauthorised development.

The Inn’s operation of a food delivery business in the car park was also considered a material change of use, the notice said, before noting that the installation of a drone landing strip was considered a development, which wasn’t exempt under planning regulations.

The notice instructed the owner to cease, within two months, the operation of its food preparation and delivery business, and remove the drone landing pads, associated security fencing and associated infrastructure.

As of Monday, 29 July, the landing pads, shipping container and fencing remained up.

Neither Clonsilla Inn nor Archpool Taverns responded when asked about the drone base.

Grey area in planning

That planning enforcement came off the back of a complaint from Labour Councillor Mary McCamley, said Labour Councillor John Walsh, speaking on Tuesday.

Healy, Manna’s CEO, said the delivery service has planning permission in the Blanchardstown Shopping Centre for the structures used to house a coffee shop and storage.

“This is a normal planning requirement, which we would expect anywhere we installed new structures or changed the use of the structure,” he said.

But Manna does not require planning permission to operate drones or for landing pads, he said. “However, we do require a licence from the aviation authority [for] any market in which we operate.”

At the Clonsilla Inn, they had temporary housing there for storage until the operation went live, he said. But that wasn’t permanent.

In cases where Manna would need structures or fences, they would adhere to local requirements, he said.

Healy said at their next intended base, there would be nothing there other than the rubber landing pads. “And that’s the way it would be in Clonsilla.”

That new location is due to be announced once Manna has consulted with local stakeholders, he said, as was the case with residents and councillors in Blanchardstown. “We have always proactively engaged with the local community ahead of public announcements.”

That consultation involves communicating with councillors, before advising the community either via town halls, leaflet drops or public messaging, he said. “Concurrent with that, we advise local, and then national media.”

Labour Councillor John Walsh says Manna did invite councillors to meet with the company to see the new base. “But it wasn’t in any sense a consultation. It was more about information and self-promotion.”

Free for all

Drone delivery operations like Manna Drone Delivery fall into a complex “specific” regulatory category, which requires an explicit authorisation from the Irish Aviation Authority, said Alec Elliott, an IAA spokesperson, on Tuesday.

These are EU regulations, which look at issues of privacy, noise levels, environmental issues and safety, he said, and Manna obtained their authorisation to operate in Blanchardstown after completing this regulatory process.

The IAA does not, however, regulate or engage with operators in areas such as planning, Elliott said.

This is a completely new scenario for local government and residents in the area, said Walsh. “It’s an area that is almost completely unregulated.

The council has no provision in the council’s existing development plan for drones, he says.

The Irish Aviation Authority has engaged with councillors in this area, he says. But their role is primarily around safety and noise. “They’ve no function to organise public consultations. That’s up to the council.”

Local consultation is essential in any development of this kind, Walsh said. “It’s a cornerstone of the planning process, that individuals can have their say on a development right beside their homes.”

He had not had complaints from residents in Clonsilla in relation to flights, he said. “But I did have a couple of complaints about the establishment of a landing site right beside their homes. There was no evidence of a site notice or any local consultation.”