Publish date: 12 July 2024
People invited to engagement event to find out more about proposed use of drones
A community engagement event is taking place to allow residents and stakeholders to learn more about a proposed drones hub in Northumberland.
The event in Seghill is being hosted by Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Apian and Zipline. The three organisations are partners in a project to deliver medical supplies by drone, with the aim of reducing costs and cancelled procedures through on-demand access to key items.
The drop-in session, which takes place on Wednesday, July 17, will give the community the chance to learn more about the project and the planning application for land north of Seghill and to the south-east of the Northumbria hospital in Cramlington.
Andrew Edmunds, director of innovation at Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We know that the community has concerns about this application, and we should have engaged with them earlier. We apologise for that, but we would like to assure people that we are committed to listening to what they have to say and will do our best to respond to their concerns.
“As a trust, we are part of our communities in Northumberland and North Tyneside, not least because they are our patients and staff. We want to work with them, and we know in this case that we need to share more information so that people understand what we are trying to do.”
The community response has already led to changes to the application. The proposed building has been moved so that the nearby bridleway will not be in the designated safety zone for the drones. This means people will continue to have unrestricted access to the bridleway.
Andy Alexander, Zipline’s UK Hub Operations Lead, said: “Hearing the community's feedback is very important to us. We look forward to meeting with members of the Seghill community and surrounding area so that we can answer any of their questions and have productive conversations. Hopefully the fact that we have already addressed one of their key concerns shows our intent to hear them and take their feedback seriously.”
Dr Christopher Law, from Apian, added: “As a medical logistics startup founded by NHS doctors, we are working in partnership with the NHS and Zipline to explore the benefits for patient and staff experience that can come from the use of drones.”
“Our role is to make sure that this project works well both on the ground and in the air, and we welcome any feedback that we get about how we can best achieve this.”
Feedback and responses will be considered after the event and before next steps are taken on this planning application.
The drop-in event is running from 3pm to 6.30pm on Wednesday, July 17, at Seghill Community Centre.
You can also find out more about the drones project and the proposed hub at https://
Media contact
Ben O'Connell, external communications manager, Northumbria Healthcare
Benjamin.O'Connell@northumbria-healthcare.nhs.uk or