Moray Council has backed plans to send drones out to scope out some planning sites to save councillors making the trip.
The authority’s planning and regulatory services committee met yesterday to revise its approach to visiting land earmarked for development.
The group agreed that, in certain cases, it would make sense to investigate potential sites by having remote controlled aircraft film them from above.
Committee chairman Chris Tuke voiced concerns that members were being taken in by the “bells and whistles” of the modern gadget.
But a motion proposed by council convener Allan Wright that drones be deployed to certain sites in place of councillors was approved by eight votes to four.
Mr Wright was supported by Fochabers Lhanbryde member Douglas Ross, who detailed a fruitless expedition to Cabrach last summer.
Mr Ross said: “This was for an extension to a wind farm, and we had to traverse much of Moray to view it from different angles.
“We didn’t get a great view of the hill in question, and a drone would have solved a lot of problems there.
“Using drones can be beneficial, they can save money and time.
“We should take a commonsense approach in looking at individual cases, but this idea will bring us into the 21st century.”
During the meeting, members were shown footage of a site designated for development outside Elgin which had been captured by a drone.
The committee was guided through the images, which were overlaid with computer graphics outlining site boundaries.
However, Heldon and Laich member Chris Tuke said he had “grave reservations” over drone usage.
He said: “I would remove any consideration of drones from the policy, the idea is all bells and whistles and I don’t believe it gives the same benefits that ground photography does.”
Forres member George Alexander said the move could aggravate developers, as decisions to reject certain plans could be made without councillors having conducted a personal visit.
He added: “We appear to be allowing exceptional cases to drive this whole policy.”
Council officers outlined cases where drone use could save the authority money, but said it was “essential” site visits remained an option.
A report will now go before the council’s policy and resources committee seeking extra budgetary allowances for use of the gadgets.