It's time for Fingal to take legal action to stop Manna drones flying from Coolmine base, councillor says

It's time for Fingal County Council to take legal action to stop Manna from flying its delivery drones from its base at the Coolmine Industrial Estate, said Aontú Councillor Ellen Troy on Thursday.

Manna's CEO Bobby Healy has said the company does not need planning permission to put down the rubber mats its drones take off from and land on, or to fly drones.

And, indeed, there was no planning permission for Manna to set up and operate its drone base behind Nawab Indian Cuisine, and a row of bins, and a spiked metal fence.

But council planners disagreed. The council issued a planning enforcement notice against the base last autumn, said Fearghal McSweeney, an administrative officer, in the council's Planning and Strategic Infrastructure Department.

Around the same time, Manna applied for "retention" planning permission, asking forgiveness, since it hadn't asked permission. But the council rejected that last month – citing noise concerns.

It said the drone base was "contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area and in addition to being prejudicial to public health".

On Tuesday about lunchtime, there were no drones on the launch pads at the Manna base at Coolmine. The company, though, says it's still flying from the base.

"Regarding planning, Manna is currently reviewing its position and considering the next steps available to us," a company spokesperson said on Tuesday by email. It could appeal Fingal's decision to An Coimisiún Pleanála.

It's time to ground Manna's drones in the meantime, said Troy, the Aontú councillor, at the 4 June meeting of the council's Blanchardstown area committee.

"I think it would be great if, immediately, it was initiated legal proceedings to cease all drone operations from Unit 14, Porters [Avenue], and to seek injunction relief if necessary to immediately halt flights pending any appeal process," she said.

McSweeney, from the council's planning department, suggested that the council is considering something along those lines.

"In general, where an enforcement notice has expired, a further site notice would take place, which has happened in this case, to determine whether or not the enforcement notice has been complied with," he said.

"Thereafter, then consideration will be taken to any sort of actions in terms of legal actions, and that is where the file's at at the minute," he said.

Manna has one operational base at Blanchardstown Shopping Centre, with a three-year planning permission due to expire in August. It set up bases in Clonsilla, Junction 6, and Coolmine without planning, and the council has told them to shut them all down.

"I call it tech-bro privilege, you know that he [Healy] just runs roughshod over the community," said Solidarity Councillor John Burtchaell, at the local area committee meeting.

At the meeting

On the agenda for last Thursday's meeting, there was a pair of motions about drones.

Troy had tabled a motion asking about the council's understanding of the 2025 National Policy Framework for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS).

"What steps can be taken by the Council, in this Local Electoral Area, with respect to: the level of noise, number of drones, number of operators, and number of locations/hubs?" she asked.

The policy framework was issued last August, said Enda Hoey, a senior executive scientist in the council's Environment, Climate Action, Active Travel and Sports Department.

Since then, there's been no further update from the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) about setting up a working group to establish "UAS Geographical Zones (portions of airspace where UAS operations are facilitated, restricted or excluded", Hoey said in his written response.

Also, the Department of Transport has yet to set up a national "U-Space Steering Group" with the IAA "to develop a traffic management system for drones", Hoey said.

That may soon change. After Manna started flying in Cork, in Taoiseach Micheál Martin's constituency, the Fianna Fáil TD reportedly told the Echo late last month that there was a need for more regulation of drones.

After Troy's motion, Burtchaell, the Solidarity councillor, had a motion asking for a report from the council on what enforcement measures had been taken with respect to Manna's Coolmine base.

"Planning enforcement section have been very active in investigating this, warning letters were issued, an enforcement notice was issued in October," McSweeney said.

Labour Councillor John Walsh said he supported both motions.

"There's been an attempt to argue, quite persistently, that whether drone bases require planning is a grey area," Walsh said at the meeting. "It's not a grey area, it's a black and white issue, and Fingal council has now affirmed three times, that planning is actually required, and three negative decisions have been given."

"Planning is not just a nice to have," he said. "It is a legal requirement, but it's also important because it gives communities a voice, and if individuals or companies effectively avoid, try to avoid the planning system, then they're denying people a voice, and that's grossly undemocratic, and unfortunately that's what happened here."

Burtchaell said that "There's socially useful aplications for drone delivery but fast food and retail, you know, in residential areas, isn't one of them."

On Tuesday, by phone, he said there was no need for Manna's delivery service. "Ten years ago, no one was thinking, If only I could get my burger delivered by drone," he said.

And this is just "the thin end of the wedge", he said. What happens when it's three or four companies delivering by drone in Dublin? he asked.

Amazon Prime Air has started delivering by drone in the UK, and is reportedly looking to expand to other countries in the region, though there's been no mention of Ireland specifically.

Burtchaell said he'd like to not only see Manna's Coolmine base shut down, but also the Blanchardstown one, once its planning permission ends in August.

The Manna spokesperson, in his email response to these discussions at the committee meeting, pointed to the company's staff and thousands of customers.

"For representatives who claim to stand with workers and local communities, it is disappointing to see more than 50 Dublin 15 workers dismissed as 'tech bros' and thousands of local residents who have chosen to use and support the service written off simply because they hold a different view," he said.

"The people at the centre of this debate are not Silicon Valley executives," the Manna spokesperson said. "They are local men and women, local families and local residents. Whatever people’s views on drone delivery, their livelihoods and opinions deserve respect."