RESIDENTS RESISTANCE SEES DRONE TRIAL PUSHED BACK UNTIL AFTER SUMMER

The Isle of Wight Council has asked Inteliports to postpone its cross-Solent drone trial until after the Summer holidays, in light of feedback received from concerned locals and stakeholders. The commercial operation – a collaboration between Vodafone, Inteliports and the Isle of Wight Council – will see 8-prop drones flying between Marchwood and Mornington Road car park in Cowes, up to 6 times a day. It is in a bid to demonstrate the impact drones can have on the Isle of Wight, improving the community’s access to goods and decarbonising Island logistics. Originally, the car park was going to close last week for a period of 6 month until February next year. But the Council pushed back the launch of the drone corridor by a week to enable further consultation with concerned locals, as previously reported by Island Echo. Now, the local authority has gone one step further by postponing the trial by at least several weeks until after the busy Summer holiday period, which continues into September. The Isle of Wight Council says that the postponement gives them time to consider the licence for access to the site. In light of the news, Mornington Road car park will not be closed from tomorrow (Wednesday) as planned. It was in May 2020 that Island Echo recorded history when, for the first time, an unmanned aerial vehicle landed on the Isle of Wight having crossed the Solent from Thorney Island. The idea was that NHS supplies could be flown between the mainland and Binstead, then transported to the hospital by road – but the concept never got off the ground. In March 2021, it was revealed that chemotherapy drugs would be flown from the helipad at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth directly to the helipad at St Mary’s Hospital in Newport. However, much like the 2020 UAV trials, nothing seems to have come of the project. In September 2021, Island Echo reported that a 3-month trial would take place but it’s unclear if this actually proceeded. Nothing more has been heard about the trial more than 2-and-a-half years later.