04 August 2026
Drones are coming to a street near you, and town planners need to get ready.
That’s the message from The Royal Town Planning Institute, which has published two guides for town planners to help them get ahead of a future full of drones.
Drones already deliver medicine and goods, and check things like power lines in parts of the UK. Government ambition statements say drones could become common by 2030
Written by Dr Paul Cureton from Lancaster University and Dr Anna Jackman from the University of Reading, the guides warn that without planning, drones could bring noise, block views, threaten privacy, cause security worries, or disturb wildlife and their habitats.
The guides recommend that planners should:
Talk with communities before drones arrive in their area, not after
Give people a genuine say in decisions about landing pads, masts and charging points near them
Allow people to turn down drone plans that don't serve the public interest
Weigh up noise, privacy, security and wildlife impact before backing new drone equipment
Start thinking about these issues now, rather than waiting for more drones to appear first
Dr Anna Jackman, University of Reading, said: "Drones increasingly animate skies in the UK and beyond. While employed by both planners and external civil and commercial operators for a range of beneficial applications, so too are drones, and the ground based equipment enabling them, variously contested. From masts to launch and landing pads, the scaling of drone operations introduces issues such as noise disturbance and wildlife disruption, requiring careful consideration.
Dr Paul Cureton, Lancaster University, said: “While recognising guidance, resource and capacity challenges, planners nonetheless remain vital stakeholders to consider if, how and where drones are appropriate, societally and economically beneficial investments for their communities."
The guides come with pictures made by the architecture studio ON A, showing what UK towns might look like once drones and their equipment fit into daily life.
The RTPI represents around 27,000 planners across more than 80 countries, and has worked on planning policy for over 100 years.
Notes to editors:
Dr Anna Jackman is available for interview. Contact the University of Reading Press Office on 0118 378 5757 or pressoffice@reading.ac.uk
Read the guides:
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