YOUR COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER |JUNE-JULY 2025 | No.271
THE COATESVILLE CHRONICLE Email coatesvillechronicle@gmail.com | ph 021 724 001 | online coatesvillechronicle.com Above, a drone light photographed over the property at 10.25 pm on 30 June.
Left, drone light photographed at the property in the early morning.
Above, two drone lights on 7 July at 5.56am. The top light is stationery while the lower light is passing from right to left.
three images taken from Jane and Michael's security camera videos.
Drones Over Coatesville Home
W
hen a couple started noticing drones over their property in central Coatesville, they assumed those behind it were just having some fun, so they ignored it. But two years later, they say the drones have become constant visitors to their property, both at night and in the early morning. As a result, the owners now believe they're being surveilled. Jane and Michael are concerned the drones are up to no good and have a more sinister purpose than simply flying where they shouldn't. As well as activity in the air, they say they've found evidence of trespassing on their Coatesville property since the drone visits started. "About 18 trees along our boundary have died in the past couple of years, and more trees have died in our garden in two years than over the previous decade combined," says Jane. So in 2024 they installed a hardwired CCTV camera system to video what was happening on their property. "We captured video of people and vehicles at our place during the day when they shouldn't be and reported them to the police with their car
0272 984 000
registrations. But they told police they'd come to the wrong address and the matter was dropped. If you watch the video it's obvious that's not true." But what Jane says is more concerning is the way she found the footage on the CCTV recorder. "I found them by accident. The clips were stored on dates and at times when I was home. So I would have seen anyone come up our driveway." Thinking their CCTV camera system had been hacked, the couple replaced the first system with a second system from a different supplier. But Jane says strange anomalies still continue along with the unwanted nightly drone visits. "The drones are most noticeable in the dark when their lights are on bright. Sometimes the lights dim or go off and come back on again, like when a helicopter goes past. Often they can be seen from Coatesville-Riverhead Highway, so other people will have seen them too. But we also have footage of them over our home during the daytime. Someone is going to a lot of effort to monitor our movements," she says. The rules governing where and when
drones can be flown are dictated by the Civil Aviation Authority. They say drones are unmanned aircraft or remotely piloted aircraft (RPAs). As part of their Good Aviation Practice guidelines, drones should be flown in daylight only, at a height not exceeding 120-metres above the ground. They must not be flown over people or properties without consent. Anyone piloting a drone must also be able to see it at all times - not via an app on a smartphone or with binoculars, but with direct line of sight. Inspector Darren Russell from the Police says rules around drone use can be found here: www.aviation. govt.nz/drones. Anyone who is concerned about drone safety should make a report to Civil Aviation New Zealand: www.aviation.govt.nz/ drones/report-a-drone-safetyconcern/.
JUNE-JULY CONTENT Editorial & Diary Dates 2 June-July News 3 Photo Comp Winners 4 Flood Alert System update 5 Volunteers Support 6 Planting Day Pink Ribbon fundraiser 7 According to Annabelle 8 10 Local Board Update Classified Ads 11 Is your CV on Point? 12
PROUDLY SPONSORS THE COATESVILLE CHRONICLE THE COATESVILLE CHRONICLE | JUNE-JULY 2025 | 1